Stop, Rewind, Rewrite, Action
by Somebody's Dark Angel
Summary: “It was pretty good, funny in parts, but not lacking in action. Kinda liked the romantic parts too.” can you believe it, the 5th chapter! Max is back, Syl has some news, and Simone meets the gang.
1. Run That By Me Again

**Run That By Me Again  
written by Somebody's Angel and MissBehaving**

A/N: my friend Jess and I have been writing this story since before Christmas, first part is finally finished…we're mapping out a whole 'nother future for Max, Logan, Alec and the rest of the DA gang.

* * *

_We got a hundred dollar bill, hands up, hands up! Make some noise, I can't hear ya! Can ya feel this, yeah, yeah yeah! Pick it up, pick it up, oh, oh! Keep it moving, ladies, fellas, ladies, fellas._

"Hey Max." Cece took the empty seat next to Max in the back room of Crash. "How long have you been watching them?" she jerked her head in the direction of the main room where her partner Biggs, and Alec were playing pool. It looked as though they were attracting a large crowd.

Max moved her slightly head to the beat of the music and waved her hand in the air to catch Sky's attention. "Got off work about an hour ago."

Original Cindy came back from the bar with two pitchers of beer. "Hey homegirls." She nodded over to where Sketchy was standing near Alec. "Who's winning?"

"No-one. It's their sixteenth game tonight night and they're dead even." Cece swallowed some beer and frowned. "This has been watered down."

"Always is, but it's better than moonshine. If you want something harder, you can always raid Alec's liquor stock behind the counter." Max offered, picking at a nearly empty plate of nachos.

"Nah, I'll stick with this." Cece looked over her shoulder at the crowd. "Hey, let's check it out."

The three of them pushed their way through to the front line of onlookers where Biggs was accepting a drink from Sketchy. Alec was tucking a piece of paper into his pants and it didn't look like the green paper.

Max snorted and muttered to Cece. "He's scouting the honeys and pressing the paper."

"He's multitalented." She sounded vaguely proud.

"Hey Max!"

Max jerked her head up and scowled at Alec. "What?" she snapped loudly.

Alec wasn't undeterred by her cold answer and grinned. "Wanna play? I'll let you break," he offered.

"Nope."

"I'll play left-handed. You can blindfold me."

"No."

"Come on, Max."

"Nobody likes a showoff, Alec," Cece called over.

Alec frowned. "Max, come on. Fifty bucks and you get to humble your old buddy Alec. What do you say?"

"Humble? Yeah. Right."

Alec shrugged noncommittally. "Well, thanks anyway. Anybody? Logan? Wanna play me in a little game of pool?"

Logan stood on the fringe of the crowd. "Oh. Uh...I break?"

"Yeah"

"Rack 'em."

Max smiled and pushed Sketchy. "Move over." Sitting in the seat Sketchy vacated, Max watched as Logan lined up his first shot, then played it and sank several balls. She ignored Alec's whistle and focused on how cute Logan looked when he concentrated.

Alec moved closer to watch as Logan lined up his next shot. "Alec…"

"Yeah?"

Logan gave a very forced smile. "Can you stand back?"

Alec stood back but Logan's concentration was gone and he missed his next shot. "He's gonna run it now." Sketchy announced. And true to his words, Alec sank four balls in succession.

Cece was watching the crowd, noticing a figure move through the crowd. "Someone's heading for Alec," she muttered to Biggs.

Biggs scanned the crowd, picking out a stocky man in jeans and dark jacket almost instantly with trained eyes. "I see him," he murmured. "What's he doing?"

Alec leaned down to line up his next shot as the man in question made it through the crowd and purposely bumped into him roughly. Alec's cue stick jerked and hit the white ball at an odd angle. Biggs saw red. Alec spun around and looked at the man with cold calculating eyes. Biggs made a deep noise in his throat.

Cece grabbed her mate before he could do something irrational. "Alec's got it covered."

The shorter man just smirked with a 'whatcha-gonna-do-'bout-it' look in his eyes and kept moving.

Alec narrowed his eyes and nodded to Logan. "Your turn."

Logan lined up his next shot and sank his fourth ball. There was a ball directly between the cue ball and the one that he needed to sink. Logan hit the white ball so that it jumped over the first and rolled the second green ball into the side pocket.

Max leaned over O.C. shoulder. "You gotta admit, that was pretty cool."

Original Cindy gave her a fake smile. "Silly boys playing with their sticks and balls. I may hurl."

Logan sank the eight-ball into the middle pocket and Max smiled. Alec just laughed and pulled out a crumpled fifty. "Good game Logan." He wandered over to Cece and Biggs to get his share of ribbing.

Max made her way over to Logan, a congratulatory beer in her hand. "Nice game." She commented.

"Thanks" Logan replied, taking the beer she was holding out to him. Their fingers came very close to touching, and both looked at each other in alarm.

Before either could say anything, Sketchy came over to Logan and shook his hand. "Dude, you rock!"

Alec shook his head. "Sketchy, where's the love, huh?"

"Go wash your hands." Max said to Logan, her concern for Logan's wellbeing making her oblivious to Sketchy. _I can't believe I was that stupid. What if we touched? What if he collapses in the bathroom and I never speak to him again?_

"What? I'm clean." Sketchy protested.

Logan gave his drink to Sketchy and ducked into the bathroom.

"What's going on?" Alec was standing to the side a little behind Max. Max, however, was a little too preoccupied to pay him any attention.

It was O.C. that answered him. "The whole love-bug dealio. After he beat your ass, Max handed him a beer and they might have touched and dosed him with the virus." She held up a hand as he saw his mouth open. "And now would not be a good time for one of your smart-ass remarks."

Alec looked annoyed. "Hey, I hate to lose, but I'm not wishing the guy dead."

O.C. glared at him. "What did I just say?"

"I was being serious!" Alec exclaimed.

When Logan came out of the bathroom, he smiled and held up his hands. "I'm okay."

Max crossed her arms, "I could have killed you over a stupid game of pool."

_I could agree with her, but that'll make her all the more paranoid_, Logan thought. "I thought it was a very satisfying game of pool, actually. Want to get a drink?" He asked, indicating the table where Original Cindy and Alec sat.

"Better not risk it." Max responded, feeling very annoyed with herself. _Why didn't I just get someone else to give him the beer? I know what kind of risk it is to do anything without gloves around him…but isn't it always shown in the movies that a girl gives her man a beer when he wins?…wait, did I just call Logan my man?_ "Um…I'm gonna go home." Max turned to leave Crash, leaving Logan wondering what he had said wrong

Alec turned around and hurried after her. He grabbed her elbow. "Hey Max, can I scam I ride?"

"Why?" Alec opened his mouth to answer but Max reconsidered and rolled her eyes. "Hurry up."

* * *

"f divided by xy…no, xz. It's gotta be right. That Manticore creep coulda been onto something and didn't even know it." Max commented to Joshua as she examined _Joshua #2_, trying to make out her 'virus papers'.

Joshua looked ashamed. "Sorry for painting over your virus papers, Max."

Max shrugged, "It's okay. I can still make out most of it. It's just this function that's screwing me up. f(x1) times delta x equals…what is that?" Max narrowed her eyes, trying to make out the writing that was partially painted over.

Joshua looked over Max's shoulder. "It's a squiggle." He nodded affirmatively. "Squiggle."

_Wait a second…_ "Could be an approximate sign. f(x1) times delta x is _approximately_ equal to delta q. the messenger RNA would codify an interruption in the protein strand, the DNA wouldn't be able to replicate, and the virus would hit a dead end."

Joshua looked at Max in confusion. "No. It's a squiggle." He clarified, rubbing the page. The squiggle disappeared. "See?"

"Yeah." Max said, not paying attention. "Still…it makes sense."

Joshua looked hopeful. "So the virus bitch is going down?"

"Could be." Max replied, still not paying proper attention. "You know, I never would've caught this if you hadn't painted over my papers." She added, trying to make Joshua feel better. She stood up and gathered her things.

"Oh, you gotta blaze?" Joshua asked.

Max nodded. "I'm gonna see if I'm on the right track. Thanks big fella."

* * *

"You're shaking your head. Why are you shaking your head?" Max asked the lab tech. "Are my calculations wrong?"

"Well," he said, "They're not so much wrong as not right."

Max sighed, "Great." _So I still have no change with Logan._

"You never told me where this virus, uh, came from." The lab tech continued, "do you mind my asking?"

Max smirked, "A secret government agency gave it to me, hoping I'd give it to a friend of mine they were looking to kill."

The lab tech laughed, "Okay, fine. You don't want to tell me, don't tell me."

"Whatever." She looked down. "Serves me right for getting my hopes up." It took all of her training to control her emotions.

"Hey, you're not gonna start crying, are you?" he asked nervously.

Max kept her face free of emotions as she held out her hand. "Just gimme my papers."

The lab tech shook his head, "Okay, hold on, hold on. Your numbers were off a little bit, but the theory behind them's viable."

Max's curiosity was piqued. "Which part?"

"Well, the whole luring-the-virus-into-a-protein-dead-end part. It's pretty cool. It has a kind of Pied-Pipper-ness to it, you know, with a little Chuck Heston thrown in there. 'Take that, you damned dirty virus!'"

Max just stared at him. _Could this guy get any lamer?_

"So you're saying you can make it work?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah…yeah all I need is a blood sample. And um…twenty thousand dollars?"

_Typical. _Max thought as she headed out the door.

* * *

"You ask me, twenty large is still a small price to pay for you and Logan to get together." Original Cindy pointed out as she and Max walked through Jam Pony.

"I just want to know I'm not gonna kill the guy if, say, I…touch his hand by accident." Max replied.

Original Cindy grinned, "Or if, say, you spend a long weekend making hot monkey love to the man…by accident."

Max laughed, _damn she knows me too well. But can I help it if he has those cute little glasses that make him look all sexy and intellectual, and that scruffy beard…_

"Does he know about the man with the cure?" Original Cindy continued, breaking Max out of her reverie.

Max shook her head. "I'm gonna try to get my hands on the cash first. I don't want to have to owe him again if this guy falls through." _And I don't want to hear his 'we can find someone else' speech._

"How you gonna get the money?" Original Cindy asked as the approached the lockers.

Max shook her head tiredly. "I'm gonna sell my soul."

"There's the devil," Original Cindy jerked her head toward Alec, then left Max to tackle Alec.

Max approached Alec with trepidation; not only was he completely unreliable but he was possibly the last person she wanted to know about her quest to cure the virus. "What are you going tonight?"

Alec looked up in surprise. "And why do you ask?"

"Got word from this fence I know. There's a collector willing to pay top dollar for Star Wars: Episode VII. After the Pulse, they shut down production. Apparently this is the only footage that exists."

"Is that the one where Captain Kirk dies?" Alec asked.

Max shrugged, "I guess. Anyway, the reel's locked up in a vault at the Fox Building in Belltown."

"Max, are you asking me to steal something with you?" Alec asked smugly with a knowing grin.

Max looked annoyed. "It's a two-man job."

"I'm shocked. I don't do that kind of stuff anymore, Max." Alec declared insincerely. "I mean you yourself showed me the error of my ways."

"Did I mention your take is twenty grand?" Max dropped her hook.

Alec raised his eyebrow and smiled. "What time do I pick you up?"

* * *

"...Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, twenty thousand." The lab tech finished counting Max's cash, then set it aside and took up needle filled with a clear liquid. "Okay, so let's do this. Roll up your sleeve." Max followed instructions, and the lab tech began injecting the liquid into her vein. "The immunoglobulin's going to take a quick lap through your system. It's going to neutralize any virulent cells in your bloodstream." He finished injecting her and pulled the needle out gently. "There you go."

Max rolled down her sleeve. "How do I know it worked?" _Please let work._

The lab tech indicated for Max to look into a microscope. When she did so, she saw purple spots being surrounded by green circles.

"You see the little green circles?" The lab tech asked. "Those are antibodies. They're completely encasing the virus nuclei and protein coating."

"So it's working?" Max asked, trying not to let her excitement be obvious in her voice.

The lab tech nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, this thing's completely dead in its tracks."

Now Max's excitement was too great to contain and she grinned widely. "I'm cured. I can't believe it." _Now Logan and I will have the chance we should have taken last year._

The labtech also smiled, obviously pleased that he had done his job. "Yeah, this thing couldn't hurt a flea now. I mean it's totally-" He looked into the microscope again, and immediately stopped rambling. "Uh-oh."

Max's smile faded. "Uh-oh? What do you mean, uh-oh?"

The lab tech looked nervous. "Uhhhh…this virus, uh, is mutating."

"Mutating how?" Max was cautious to keep her voice even; it wasn't the lab tech's fault.

"Well, the little buggers are eating through the protein coating. I mean, once they do that, the virus is back in business." The lab tech looked at Max, and could see her emotions in her face. "You're, uh, you're not gonna cry, are you?"

It took all of Max's training to hold back her tears. _I knew it was too good to be true! _"How long until the coating is history?"

The lab tech looked in the microscope again, "Well, at the rate they're going, thirteen, maybe fourteen hours. I wouldn't put it past twelve though, just to be on the safe side. I mean, I can say with complete confidence you'll be virus-free for twelve hours."

_Great! So it worked, but only kind of. Now I have to see what Logan will think of this. I hope he wants to take this chance, I don't think I could live with myself if I let this opportunity slip through my fingers._ Max thought as she practically flew out the door.

_

* * *

I can't believe I'm not going straight over to Logan's. Max thought, __twelve hours where I can touch Logan and I'm wasting time going to Joshua's? I must be crazy. But with my luck I know that the minute Logan and I get…into anything is the minute that Joshua comes barreling in her wanting me to do something or save someone. So it's better that I waste 20 minutes explaining the situation to Joshua rather than spend a couple of hours helping him save someone later._ Max thought, 

She ran up the steps at the front of what used to be Sandeman's and was now Joshua's house.

"Hey big fella." She remarked when she walked in the door.

"Hey little fella." He replied, coming over to give her a hug. "You come to hang out with Joshua?"

"No, actually I just wanted to tell you that I won't be available tonight." Joshua looked confused so Max continued quickly. "You know those papers you painted over?" He nodded, "I found a lab tech who could help me with the cure."

Joshua grinned. "So the virus bitch is going down?"

Max grimaced. "Well, sorta. It worked, but the virus mutated. The cure is only gonna work for twelve hours. So for the next…" Max checked her pager. "Eleven hours and forty minutes, you gotta go to Alec if you need help with something OK?"

Joshua nodded. "Go to Alec for help. OK little fella. You go get busy with Logan."

"Thanks big fella." Max hugged her canine friend, then went out the door and rode to her apartment to get ready for her rendezvous with her…with Logan.

* * *

Max stood outside Logan's door, resisting the temptation to throw it open. She checked her pager, it said 10:51:01. _OK, all I've got to do is tell him. It won't be that hard…what am I saying of course it will be hard; we haven't been able to touch each other for six months and all of a sudden I turn up and say that we have ten hours where we can touch. What is he going to think?_ She checked her pager again, it said 10:50:56. Logan opened the door, confusion obvious in his face; why hadn't she just picked the lock and entered, the way she usually did? _Good question._ Max thought to herself.

"Got a minute?" she asked, cringing inwardly as she did so. _God could that sound anymore lame?_

Logan smiled slightly, and ushered her in without touching her. He followed her to the living room, wondering why she had brought a bottle of wine when she apparently only wanted to talk. He sat down on the couch, watching as she took off her coat and stood awkwardly near the chair. _Wow, she's dressed up tonight, wonder what's up?_ Logan thought, as he took in the beauty before him. _She looks gorgeous, as always…she looks gorgeous in anything._

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked.

Max looked uncomfortable for a second, like she was trying to find a way to say something. She sat down on the arm of the chair as she spoke, "Let me ask you a hypothetical question."

Logan smiled, "those are my favourite kind."

"Supposing…just supposing…I found a temporary cure for the virus."

Logan was taken aback, he hadn't expected their talk to be about this, "Is there such a thing?"

"That's where the supposing part comes in." Max replied.

"Okay." Logan tried to think of what he should say next…what was the right thing to say? "Uh, hypothetically, how long would this temporary cure last?"

Max checked her pager, _OK, now it's time to tell him,_ she thought. "Ten hours and fifty minutes." She looked up at him, searching for his reaction in his eyes. _Please, please, please let him not be mad that I did this without telling him._

Logan was again taken aback…this thing was real? "You're serious?"

Max nodded.

"So we can touch and nothing will happen?" Logan asked, hoping his voice didn't sound too eager.

"I don't know about _nothing_, but you won't die." Max let the innuendo of her words hang in the air, hoping Logan would catch on, but at the same time, hoping he wouldn't. _Please don't let him think I only came over for sex. He has to know that I care too much for him for tonight to just be about sex._

Logan caught her innuendo, and was surprised, _Whew, it's not like Max to talk so blatantly…but I don't want tonight to be just about sex. If we only have ten hours, this has to be perfect. But what is _this "Oh, my…" Logan sat back, overwhelmed, w_hat do we have together?_ "Max…"

"We have to think about this. Because when it's over, it's over. No repeats." _Why the hell did I say that? It sounded like there was no future for us, like I'm giving up on us being together._

"We'd be back where we started." Logan added, thinking the opposite thoughts to himself. _Who am I kidding! After tonight, whatever happens, everything will be different even if we can't touch._

"Exactly." Max didn't really agree with Logan's assessment, but from the look in his eyes it seemed he didn't either. "Ten hours seems like a long time, but it isn't. Not really." _Not when you've been waiting a year and a half for this to happen._

"It'll have to be long enough." _At least long enough for us to admit our feelings, the ones I should have admitted when I first felt them, and I didn't even tell her when she was dying in my arms!_

Max smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that. We've got ten hours." _And by god I want to use them well._

"Evidently," Logan stated, hoping Max would make a move soon. If he made the first move, Max would run, he was sure of it.

"We've been waiting for the right time." Alec's words from earlier that night came back to Max, _'__I can see how the right time might elude you...for a **year**.'_ "Here it is."

They stood up simultaneously. Stared at each other for a moment. Then Logan walked over to Max, the faint whir of his exoskeleton echoing in the silence. He held out his hand. She moved her hand towards his, but was hesitant. _What if it didn't work? No, I saw the protein coating myself, it definitely worked._ Moving her hand, she slipped it into his waiting one, mirroring his smile.

Logan curled his fingers around Max's, reveling in the feel of her skin, after not feeling it for so long. It was warm, smooth and soft, everything he remembered, but better, somehow.

Max rubbed her thumb across the back of Logan's hand. How she had missed touching him. His skin felt the same as the last time she had touched it; warm, slightly calloused, but still soft.

Moving closer to Max, Logan lifted his hand to her hair. He let it run through his fingers, feeling the silky strands, committing them to memory. Bringing his head down to hers, he attempted to kiss her.

_No!_ Max's inner voice rang out as Logan tried to kiss her. _If he kisses you, it won't stop at one kiss. _She moved away slightly. "I don't…I can't believe I'm gonna go all girly on you, but…I don't want to blow this on a quickie. It should be perfect."

Logan smiled in relief. For a minute there he thought Max had still wanted to be just-friends. _She doesn't want to blow this on a quickie. That's a good sign, it means this means more to her than just one night of sex._ "Perfect." He repeated. "How about a perfect quickie?"

Max laughed. _The nerve of him! But he's only joking…I think._ Looking into Logan's eyes, Max could see he was kidding. But she still wanted it to be perfect. "Open this." She said, pulling up the bottle of wine between them.

Logan gripped the wine and grinned. "OK." He turned to get the corkscrew, but spun back. "But can I get a kiss first?"

Max thought about it for a second, before giving in. "Fine." She placed a hand on either side of his head and gave his a quick peck on the lips. "Now go."

Logan pouted at her, but complied, retrieving the corkscrew and two glasses. Upon turning to go back to the living room, he found Max had followed him into the kitchen. Sitting on a stool, she motioned him over. He placed the glasses on the counter in front of her, before uncorking the wine and taking the stool closest to her.

Max poured them each a glass of wine, then handed one to Logan. "To us." She said, raising her glass.

Logan smiled, and raised his own glass to clink with her own. "To us." He repeated, and they both took a sip of wine.

* * *

Alec was back at Crash a few hours later, slouched at the bar, staring at the blue shade of a poster behind the counter. He scowled and polished off his drink. "Barkeep! Another scotch." He looked to his left. "And a uh, tequila shot for the pretty blonde."

Asha glanced up and grabbed her jacket. "That's all right. I was just leaving." She left her glass of beer on the counter passing him as she moved towards the exit.

Alec shrugged, full of arrogance. "All right, but once you hear the good news about Max and Logan, you might be wanting that drink."

"What news?" she asked sharply

"Why don't you fortify yourself?" he suggested calmly, handing her the shot. "Bottoms up."

* * *

"So how long were you and Alec stuck in the closet?" asked Logan, in response to Max's explanation of how she obtained the money for the virus cure.

"About an hour. He was yapping the entire time."

Logan joined Max in her laughter. The two were sitting at a counter in Logan's kitchen, sipping wine and talking about the day's events.

"He's a yapper." Logan chuckled at the image of Alec yapping like a dog would. "Yeah, stuck in the closet with Alec - you're pretty much describing my worst nightmare." _And one that I've had more than once,_ Logan thought. _After all, how was I to know that while we couldn't touch, you weren't touching someone else?_

Max smiled, "It was worth it though. It got me here."

They looked at each other, the love reflected in their eyes.

"It feels like old times." Logan commented, taking Max's hand again. He couldn't stop touching her. _I suppose after six months of not being able to even hold her hand, it's acceptable to want to touch her as much as possible._

"Better." Max replied, raising her glass.

Logan clinked his glass with hers, took a sip, then set it down. Standing up, Logan pulled Max to a standing position, then led her over to a mirror that she recognised.

"Hey isn't this…" Max asked, attempting to turn her head. She found that she couldn't as Logan had a hold of her chin.

"Yeah. And this," Logan said, indicating Max's face, "is still the most singularly beautiful face I've ever seen."

Logan released Max's chin and she turned her head to look directly into his eyes. He closed the distance between their lips in a sweet, yet passionate kiss filled with promise of things to come.

* * *

"Logan and Max," Asha toasted with a shot of bourbon.

Alec clinked his glass with hers, "Max and Logan."

"Every happiness."

"Ha!" Alec snorted, before downing his shot.

"Wonder what they're doing right now." Asha speculated. Alec gave her a 'are-you-kidding-me?' look "You know what I mean. Logan's so romantic – I bet he made her dinner. Wine…candles…I bet it's perfect."

Alec nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like them. I mean, why consummate two years of unbridled passion when we can have pasta?"

"You're a pig. You don't know anything about love."

"Well, I know more than you think." _Rachael… Failure… Mission… Betrayal. _"Besides, you're a liar."

"How so?"

"Because you don't wish them all the happiness in the world; you want Logan for yourself. I mean, come on. You had it all dialled in when Max was back at Manticore, presumed dead. You and Logan, doing your hero thing, spending hours together in his fancy little apartment, all tuned up about the ways of the world. It was a good time for you, right?"

Asha took another sip of beer, "Yeah, he was thinking about Max every second of every day. He never believed she was dead. And when she came back, he was the happiest I'd ever seen him."

"Yeah, until the virus thing."

"Even with the virus, they never gave up on each other. And no matter how I feel about it, I have to respect that. Because that, my friend, is true love." Asha raised her glass at Alec and took another mouthful of beer.

"Yeah, right. Have they ever even once said 'I love you'? No. No. Max…Max would choke on the words. Logan…eh, he'd say it, in an email." He mimicked Max's earlier words "'He's not my boyfriend. We were never even like that. It was never the right time.' No, Logan is a repressed WASP and Max is a…a broken toy. The two of them will never work out together." He concluded decisively.

Asha refused to believe Alec's conclusion, "And you are cynical."

"No. I'm someone who believes in going after what he wants, and damn the consequences. When you've been dead a hundred years, little girl, you have only just begun to be dead. We're living on borrowed time. And if you don't put your heart out there on the line, then you're never really living at all. If I loved someone, I'd tell 'em. And if I wanted someone, then I would let her know, straight up."

* * *

The melancholy tunes of _Valse Triste _by Jane Sibelius floated through Logan's penthouse as he and Max danced around the living room. He held her tightly, revelling in the feeling of her in his arms. _It's been torture trying to keep my hands to myself these past couple of months. All I wanted to do was touch her, but I couldn't…_ Logan forced himself to put that thought out of his mind and concentrate on the beautiful woman in his arms.

_He feels so…good. It just feels right to be here in his arms, dancing,_ Max thought as she pulled herself a little bit closer to Logan's body, enjoying the feel of his body under her hands. _It's been so long since I've touched him…I can't believe I denied my feelings for so long…as Alec said, we had a year before this virus happened, and we never found the right time…now is the right time, and even though it's only ten hours, it's going to be the best ten hours of my life!_ Max looked into Logan's piercing blue eyes, only centimetres from her own, then allowed her eyes to trail down his face to his lips, resisting the temptation to kiss him.

_I can't believe I denied my feelings for her for so long._ Logan thought as he looked into Max's eyes. The emotions in them mirrored his own, and he knew that he had to tell her what he felt for her. "Max…" he began, and her eyes moved back up to his own, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you…for a long time."

Max smiled slightly. "Yeah…me too." She paused, _I have to know, before I tell him._ "You first."

"Max, I…I don't just think of you as my own personal cat-burglar. You are so much more to be than the legs behind Eyes Only. When I first realised that, I was afraid, afraid of what it would do to our…relationship, our friendship. I wanted to be more than your friend, but I didn't want to scare you by moving too fast."

Max smiled, but didn't interrupt him; just let him speak what was on his mind.

"So instead I just stayed silent and let you come to your own conclusion about what you wanted to be between us. Max, that night you died in my arms, I thought I'd lost you forever, and something died in me too. Lydecker knocked me out and took me back to the van; otherwise I probably would have been caught trying to carry your body to the van. I woke up on the sofa and I couldn't get up for days. It seemed like the world left me behind somewhere when you died. The sun came up, the sun went down, and I didn't notice a thing. All I could think about was that you were never coming back. How I'd never again see your beautiful face, or feel your lips against mine, or feel you in my arms. You were gone and I couldn't get my head around it because I hadn't told you how I felt, how I still feel about you. When you came back, alive, that dead part of me came alive again, and after the virus I told myself that no matter what happened, I would find a way for us to be together. Max, I love you. I have loved you ever since I realised I was willing to let you go for your own safety. I love everything about you. I love your eyes, your hair, your barcode. I love that Manticore made you, because without Manticore, you wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be able to love the person you are. The person who is perfect, no matter what she says." Max's eyes were shining with tears, and as some of the drops trailed down her face, Logan wiped them away with the pad of his thumb, caressing her cheek.

"Logan, I love you too." Max stated simply, too overwhelmed by his 'speech' to respond in kind.

Logan's own eyes filled with tears of happiness as he took Max's face in his hands and kissed her. The kiss was soft and gentle, an expression of their love for one another. Max traced Logan's lips with her tongue, and he gladly obliged, turning their kiss passionate.

A few minutes later, Logan broke the kiss, the need for oxygen overwhelming his need to imprint the taste and feel of Max's lips on his. He smiled at his love, and they continued their dance, stealing kisses along the way.

When _Val Triste_ finished, Max whispered "stay here" into Logan's ear before moving to take something out of her jacket. Logan watched as she fished out a CD and placed it into his CD player before returning to his arms.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I heard this song recently, and it reminded me of what we have, and I wanted to share it with you, especially tonight." Max replied mysteriously as the music filled the air.

_What if I told you it was all meant to be  
Would you believe me  
Would you agree  
It's almost that feelin'  
We've met before  
So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy  
When I tell you love has come here now_

_A moment like this  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this  
Some people search forever  
For that one special kiss  
Ohh, I can't believe it's happening to me  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this_

"Who sings this?" Logan asked softly.

"Kelly Clarkson." Max replied.

Logan nodded as he remembered, "The first American Idol. This is the song she sang after she won."

"I think it describes us, this moment perfectly, don't you?"

Logan listened to the words of the chorus before he replied, "Yeah, I'd have to agree."

Capturing her lips in an adoring kiss, Logan gave Max her 'one special kiss'.

_Everything changes  
But beauty remains  
Something so tender  
I can't explain  
Well I may be dreamin'  
But 'till I awake  
Can we make this dream last forever  
And I'll cherish all the love we share_

_A moment like this  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this  
Some people search forever  
For that one special kiss  
Ohh, I can't believe it's happening to me  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this_

"I can't believe we waited so long to admit what we felt. That year we wasted, dancing around each other…" Logan was cut off by Max pressing her finger to his lips.

"I know. But still, it makes this time we have now all the more precious." She smiled and laid her head on Logan's shoulder, holding him tighter as he moved them around the room.

_Could this be the greatest love of all  
I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall  
So let me tell you this  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this  
Some people search forever  
For that one special kiss  
Ohh, I can't believe it's happening to me  
Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this_

_Ohh!  
Like this!_

_Ohh!  
I can't believe it's happening to me!_

_Some people wait a lifetime  
For a moment like this_

_Ohh  
Like this_

When the song finished, Max turned in Logan's arms, so she faced away from him, and led the two of them to the couch. She allowed Logan to sit down, and then seated herself on his lap, snuggling into his chest. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Max spoke.

"Logan?" She asked, moving her head so she could look into his eyes. "What's going to happen tomorrow? What happens when we can't touch anymore?"

Logan silenced Max with a kiss. "Why don't we just enjoy what we have tonight, and we let tomorrow take care of itself." He kissed her again, with more passion this time.

Max smiled against his lips. "Mmm, I think I like that idea. After all…" she continued, in between kisses, "we have…" she paused to check Logan's watch, "Nine hours and five minutes still. And I plan to make good use of every one of those minutes." She said seductively, as she reclaimed Logan's mouth with her own.

Kissing Max was like nothing Logan had ever felt before, and he was lost in the taste of her, the feel of her lips against his, and the scent of her. It was only when Logan felt Max's hands pulling up his sweater did he come back to reality. Clasping her hands in his own, he broke the kiss. "Max…" he breathed, voice husky with desire, "you said you wanted this to be perfect, so how 'bout we make it perfect?"

Max nodded, and, giving him one last peck, stood up. "Shall we move this to the bedroom?" she asked, holding out her hand to help him up.

Logan allowed Max to help him up, then put his arm around her waist and led her to his bedroom. He deposited her on the bed, then lit the candles that graced almost every available surface in the room. Just as he was lighting the last one, the lights died, another brown out.

Max smiled, and indicated for Logan to join her on the bed, which he did. He then leaned down to remove both his and Max's shoes before rising back up to meet Max's amused brown depths. When he finally sat up, Max moved towards him, pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. As they kissed, Max ran her fingers through Logan's hair, then lowered them to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Lowering his hands to the hem of Max's top, Logan caressed the sliver of exposed skin between the top and her jeans, causing Max to shiver. Moving his hands up under her top, Logan explored Max's torso with his hands, learning her curves.

When oxygen became an issue for Logan, he broke the kiss, which allowed Max to remove her top, revealing her strapless black bra. Wrapping his arms around her now-bare waist, Logan ran a finger the length of Max's spine, before claiming her lips once again.

* * *

Alec reached into his coat, and flipped open his cell phone, cutting off the ring, "Yeah?"

"There's a situation at T.C. Fighting among our unit. You'd better get down here pronto and sort it out." Biggs told him.

"Who?" He demanded curtly into the phone.

"Mikel was having a good go at Hart."

"Damm. Where are they now?"

"Temporary holding cell, Sir. They're all waiting for you."

"What do you mean they're _all_ waiting for me?"

"We respect Max for who she is, but she's not our leader. You are, and it's high time you started taking charge of T.C."

"What are you not telling me here, Biggs?"

"Look, get your ass over here before things get worse."

Alec rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I'll be there in five. I want our unit in the command center. No-one goes out of T.C. until I say so."

* * *

Max awoke and looked around, confused. _Where am I? And…_ Max felt arms around her waist and a warmth beneath her head. _Who…_ Looking at the owner of the chest she had been sleeping on, Max remembered the events of the night. Checking the clock on Logan's nightstand, she noted that they had 5 hours and 41 minutes left.

Untangling herself from Logan's body, Max sat up and gazed at the face of the man she loved more than anything else in the world. _One day soon I'm gonna have to tell him exactly how I feel about him, the way he told me earlier…but I'm nowhere near ready to do anything like that just yet. Look how long it took the both of us to even admit we loved each other…I know I'm gonna try my damndest to make this relationship work, but…_ Placing a hand on Logan's shoulder, Max shook him gently.

"Logan." She murmured in his ear. "Logan."

Logan slowly opened his eyes, grinning when he saw Max sitting next to him butt naked. "Hey." He said, pulling her close.

"Hey yourself." Max replied, kissing him softly.

"How long do we have left?" Logan asked, stroking his fingers along Max's thigh.

"About five and a half hours."

"Well then we'd better make good use of them." Logan replied, pinning Max to the bed under him. He moved to kiss her, but Max moved her head away.

"You know what I've been wanting to do for the longest time?" She asked, not moving out of his embrace, but not allowing him to kiss her lips either.

"Max, if this is another of those double-barreled questions…" Logan trailed off, remembering the last time she had said something like that…

FLASHBACK:

"You're going to have to take it slow."

"I don't want to take it slow. I want to go fast."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in that case... There's something I've been wanting to do with you ever since we first met. I think you might be up for it."

END FLASHBACK

Max smiled, moving her head up to kiss Logan. "No…well it _is_ a double-barreled question but it's not like the last time. I want us to take a bath together."

"A bath…I think we can manage that." He smiled, and moved to the edge of the bed.

* * *

Alec drove through the narrow gap made in the perimeter of T.C. He nodded to the two X5s guarding the entrance and they snapped to a quick salute that he returned half-heartedly. He drove through the streets, parking outside the command center, glaring a Biggs as he hurried over.

"I want a full explanation, Biggs. Now." Alec could feel a headache coming on, and he couldn't be bothered hiding his foul mood.

Biggs glanced behind him where Mikel and Hart stood with the rest of the unit. "I'll let them explain." And danced out of the way of Alec's frustrated fist.

Alec stomped over to his unit. "Report."

"Sorry, Sir." The two men with bruises on their faces stepped forward.

Alec nodded and they lowered their hands. "Do I want to know what happened?"

"We had a disagreement regarding the ordinary Max is seeing. We feel that she shouldn't be with the ordinary." Mikel explained. "We were looking out for your best interests."

"We?" Alec asked.

"I tried to stop Mikel, and we fought."

Alec nodded, noting the way they didn't stand fully upright. "Have you seen medical yet?"

"No, Sir."

"Go see medical, then confined to quarters till morning. See me then. Biggs, put the word out, that we're regrouping and 494 is in charge."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." His unit snapped a quick salute.

"And guys, not that's it's any of your business, but just let Max be with whomever she wants to be with. I don't want to see another argument like this again, okay?"

* * *

"Mmmm, this is heaven." Max commented, as she relaxed against Logan's chest in the bubble-filled bath.

"Hmm, so is this better than the baths you enjoy by yourself?" Logan asked, raking his fingers over Max's flat stomach.

Max turned her head to kiss him, "Of course it is."

Grabbing a bottle from the shelf behind him, Logan pushed Max away from him and gently pushed her head under the bubbles. She came up dripping, with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Turn around again," Logan said, motioning with his free hand. Max obeyed, and Logan pulled her head down so it was lying on his stomach. Taking the bottle, he squirted some shampoo into his hand and began to lather Max's hair.

"Mmmm, Logan that feels soooo good." Max moaned, as Logan's skillful fingers worked the shampoo into the roots of her hair, massaging her scalp.

He asked her to dunk her hair under the water, then repeated the process with the conditioner. After rinsing her hair one last time, Max snuggled into Logan's chest, content to just lie in his warm, loving embrace.

* * *

With twenty minutes to go, Max and Logan were snuggling on the couch, sharing a tub of ice cream.

_These twelve hours have been so perfect. Now I know how Logan feels about me, and he knows how I feel about him. I still want us to be together though, well as together as we can be without touching._ Max turned her head to face Logan, and watching his striking blue eyes, she could see he was thinking the same thing that she was.

_If I touch Max tomorrow I'll die. But I'll die if I can't touch her. It brings to mind the lyrics 'my hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me, so won't you kill me, so I die happy'…Whoa, that was morbid, but understandable. But what's going to happen now? Can we still be together without being able to touch?_ Logan looked into Max's chocolate brown eyes and knew that no matter what happened in the future, nothing could change their love for one another.

"Logan?"

"Max."

"What's going to happen now?" Max asked, worry evident in her eyes, "I mean, can we still be together when we can't touch? I don't think I could stand the thought of losing you…" She trailed off, tears glistening in her eyes at the mere prospect of losing the love of her life.

Logan smiled and kissed away the tears that clung to her eyelashes. "We will be together no matter what. We'll just have to be extra careful."

"You know, I was so nervous coming here tonight. I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same as I do, that you wouldn't want to take the risk of getting into a relationship with a person you can't touch. But now…all I want is to be with you, even if we're not touching. I love you and that's never going to change. I don't have to touch you to show how much I love you, and you don't have to touch me to show me how much you love me. I can see it in your eyes, and now that I've seen it, I know that that love has been there for a very long time. And I…" Max was interrupted by her pager beeping.

"Well I guess that's it then." Logan said, squeezing Max's shoulder one final time before removing his arm.

Max stood up, then knelt on the floor in front of Logan. She kissed him, and felt tears spring to her eyes. "Why does it feel like I'm kissing you goodbye?" she asked.

"You're not." Logan replied. "We _will_ fix this."

Max smiled, "I know. I love you Logan." She kissed him one final time, then stood up, moving to the other seat.

"I love you too Max."

* * *

THE END 


	2. Curvaceous Killer: 1, Monty Cora: 0

**Curvaceous Killer: 1, Monty Cora: 0  
by Somebody's Angel and MissBehaving**

A/N: Takes place during the end of 'Fuhggedaboudit', Max and Logan are 'together' but still cannot touch. About five weeks have passed since BT.

Huge thanks to BlackRose for the beta!

* * *

That night at the fight club, Max approached Mia at the betting window.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass." Max asked.

"Oh, hi." Mia smiled uncertainly, "Hey, there's Logan. Hi, Logan!" She waved to Logan, who looked at her for a moment, then turned towards the bar. "So what are you guys up to?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." Max replied.

Mia sighed exasperatedly, "Here we go again."

Alec side-stepped the wild punch of his opponent and elbowed him roughly in the head, knocking the taller man to the ground with a dull thump. He glanced at the ring girl as she pulled the thin chain three times. She smiled up at him only to find his attention had wandered to Tony and his 'crew' sitting with another shorter man who looked like he'd lost four pounds just sweating.

"…the titan of terror, give it up for Jim the Jackal!" The announcer proclaimed as another contestant moved into the ring.

Normal placed another bet on Alec, dancing to the music of triumph. "Thank you, my man." He said to the bookie. Normal turned back to the ring in time to see Alec block a succession of kicks, then finally sweeping the larger man's legs from underneath him. The crowds cheered loudly as Jim the Jackal was dragged from the ring.

Logan sat at the bar nursing a glass of wine. Max approached him, looking frustrated.

"Can I get a drink?" She asked the bartender. At the sound of her voice Logan turned to look at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. Except…I think Mia put the whammy on me again, because I have no idea what we just talked about." Max shook her head in disbelief.

Logan smiled and removed his earpiece. "I do."

Max moved her hair off her collar and looked at the microphone clipped to her collar. "Oh yeah. Forgot you were listening. Thank god."

"Dougie's worried the boss is gonna find out he talked to Eyes Only. Mia convinced Alec to fight so Dougie could do a solid for the don." Logan explained matter-of-factly.

"So the boss is here?"

"Somewhere. Dressed as a peanut vendor, probably." Logan looked around, as if searching for the boss. "Dougie's about to make him a small fortune, and once he gets back in his good graces, he'll never flip."

Max raised her eyebrows, "Unless Alec goes down and the boss loses all his money on account of Dougie."

"And what are the chances of _that_ happening?"

Max rolled her eyes, "Depends on Alec."

"I'll call Matt Sung." Logan said at the same time as Max.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Max continued, "Tell him to get his men over here." She looked at Logan for a moment more, before walking to the ring to talk to Alec.

Holding a pressure point in his opponent's neck, Alec counted down the seconds until his opponent lost consciousness. "Four, three, two, one." The ring girl smiled at him and waved flirtatiously, so he winked at her.

"Alec!" Max said in a voice barely audible to a non-transgenic.

He walked over to her. "Max, hey. You wanna bet on me?" He motioned with his fists.

"You gotta lose this next fight." She replied quickly.

"What?" Alec couldn't believe his ears.

"Take a dive, hit the mat, lose the fight." She explained impatiently, knowing that there was only so much time before the next competitor entered the ring.

"Yeah, right." A closed expression filtered across his face, then the cocky facade was back. "I'm up like a hundred grand." Alec smiled as he thought of what he could do with all that money.

"You don't get it. Mia played you." Max tried another tactic.

Alec shook his head, "No, no, she spotted me my startup money."

"No, she fixed the fight so a bunch of mobsters could make a killing on you." Max motioned towards the mobsters with her eyes.

Alec looked towards the people she motioned at, then back at Max, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Logan's been trying to take these guys down for months. If you don't throw the fight, they get off scot-free."

Alec though about the dilemma…for ten seconds, "It's not my problem."

He walked back into the centre of the ring, leaving Max looking after him in amazement.

"…weighing in at 310 pounds, let's hear it for the avatar of agony, Mako!" The announcer broadcasted, then spoke to the contestants, "All right, gentlemen. You know the drill. When I leave the ring, the fight begins. Any questions?" He got no reply, so he left the ring, leaving Alec and Mako trying to stare each other down.

Max walked back over to Logan, "No go, he says it isn't his problem. This is just typical! Why should he care about anybody but himself?" She asked sarcastically.

"What's the problem?" CeCe asked, coming up beside Max. As always, Biggs was not far behind.

"Alec needs to lose the fight. And typical Alec, won't even consider helping someone other than himself." Max replied.

"I'm gonna lay his ass in the dirt." she continued before either X5 could comment.

"Max, are you sure? I mean, he was at Manticore a lot longer than you, who knows what his moves are like?" Logan was concerned, "Plus you've been getting headaches lately, and you're always tired…" He trailed off when he saw Max's look.

"Thanks for the concern Logan, but I've been waiting for a chance to kick Alec's ass for months now. What better place to do it than in front of hundreds of people?" She grinned conspiringly.

Over at the betting window, Normal placed another bet, "Thank you very much." He turned around to watch Alec fight, "Let's go, let's go."

Alec beat Mako with three moves and the crowd went wild. Normal went to the side of the cage to speak to Alec.

"You're up $122,000." Normal and Alec smiled at one another.

"Ladies and gentlemen, undefeated against twelve opponents and still standing after all comers, we have a new champion-" The announcer was cut off by a female voice that was eerily familiar to Alec.

"Not so fast." Max entered the ring, taking off her jacket and belt.

Normal and Alec looked up in surprise, the disbelief showing on their faces. Alec threw a 'what?' look at Max and she glared back at him.

"I'll take him on."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger…" The announcer walked around the two X5s as they spoke, oblivious to the cheering crowd.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alec asked.

Max slowly took off her bike gloves as she explained, "I told you to take a dive. Now I'm gonna have to beat your ass myself."

"What do you have against me making money?" Alec looked around, unable to comprehend Max's actions.

"So what's your name, cupcake?" The announcer asked Max.

Alec answered for her, "She doesn't have a name. You know what? She's not here. She's not fighting." He looked around for Biggs, who just shrugged and waved when Alec glared at him.

"Oh, yes, I am." Max replied in a no-nonsense tone, handing her gloves to the ring girl.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner, hailing from parts unknown, let's hear it for the Curvaceous Killer!" The announcer publicized, and Alec smirked at Max when he heard the announcer's name for her.

"What do you think?" One of the gangsters asked Tony.

"What do you mean, what do I think? Look at the freakin' odds." Tony replied. They looked at the odds on the board, which were 47-1 in Monty Cora's favour. "Put it all on Dougie's guy for the boss."

"How much?" Another gangster asked as he picked up the betting slips.

"How much? All of it." Tony replied. The gangster left the table, "'How much.'" Tony muttered.

"You are so dead, missy-miss." Normal said to himself gleefully as he placed another bet for Alec.

Mia was waiting in line impatiently at another window. She tapped the shoulder of the guy in front of her, "Excuse me, I'm gonna scootch to the front. Hi, excuse me. Excuse me." She made her way to the front using the 'powers' Manticore had given her.

"Everything on Monty Cora." The gangster said to the bookie at yet another betting window.

The announcer handed his microphone to the ring girl, then turned to Max and Alec, "All right, here are the rules. Well, there ain't no rules. Hitting below the belt's allowed…eye gouging's allowed…"

Alec shook his head ignoring the announcer, "Max, you don't want to fight me."

Max jumped in, "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this chance for months." She put up her fists in preparation for the fight.

"Yeah, well, see, you're just a girl, and so-"

Alec's words were cut off when Max punched him in the face.

"Hey!" Normal screamed from the side of the ring, "She jumped the bell! What are you doing? She jumped the bell!"

The announcer left the ring as quickly as he could, yelling at the ring girl as he went, "Ring the bell! Will you ring the bell?"

Alec wiped the spit off his lips, "Should've known you'd cheat."

Max kicked Alec in the leg, sending him towards the side of the cage. "That's for the virus."

Alec walked around, holding his leg, "That was _not_ my fault!" He pointed a finger at Max to make his point.

Max ignored him and punched him again, sending him into the side of the cage. "That's for trying to kill Joshua."

Alec used the cage to pull himself back into a standing position as he protested, "I was just trying to protect my own…"

Max punched Alec in the face, then followed it with an upper cut to the stomach, leaving Alec doubled over.

"And that's for getting paint all over my research papers."

Alec squinted at the irate X5 and pointed at her as he walked around the ring, "Okay, yeah, that was my bad."

She punched him in the face again, sending him flying into the other side of the cage. "That's for making Joshua deliver your packages."

"Max, cut it out!" Alec was now getting angry, and pointed a finger at her to warn her as he got to his feet.

Again Max ignored his words, kicking him in the leg, then punching his face again, the force behind the punch pushing him face first into the cage. "That's for losing my baseball."

Alec slowly stood back up and shot a warning look at Max.

"And this…" Using her arms for leverage, Max kicked Alec in the stomach, sending him flying back against the side he had just moved from, "…is for whatever stupid thing you do next." She pushed her hair away from her face as she watched Alec try to get his breath back.

"Kick her ass!" Normal yelled from the side of the ring.

"Okay. That's it." Alec pushed against the cage to lever himself back to his feet.

Max raised her eyebrows and went into a roundhouse kick, but Alec grabbed her leg, stopping her momentum. He punched her in the jaw, then pushed her leg, shoving her unceremoniously to the ground. She did a backward roll to her knees, but before she could get up, Alec kicked her thigh, sending her into the side of the cage. She landed right in front of Normal, and a river of blood flowed from her nose, even though Alec hadn't punched her anywhere near her nose. For a moment Alec looked concerned, but saw Max's murderous look and realised that she would never let him help her.

"Oh, lovely!" Normal yelled to Alec, then grabbed the wire and spoke to Max; "You better be at work tomorrow, there, miss. Huh, pumpkin?" As Max got to her feet and wiped the blood off her face, Normal shouted to Alec, "Kill the messenger!"

Alec grinned at Max, "My turn now, bitch." He flexed his shoulder muscles and got into a fighting stance.

Max tilted her head, "What'd you just call me?"

Alec chuckled, "You heard me. B-I-T-C…" He spelled it with his fingers, but Max cut him off.

"Oh, look at that." She glanced at the side of the ring, "Ring girl just lost her top."

"Yeah." Alec responded in a disbelieving tone. Nevertheless, he had to look, just to make sure. The ring girl smiled back at him, top intact.

Max looked at Alec for a split second, _still the same old sleaze,_ she thought in disgust, before taking advantage of his distractedness to kick him in the groin.

The crowd groaned, then the women began to cheer.

Alec grabbed his groin, wide-eyed with pain. Max pushed his forehead gently, making him fall over.

"Oops. Sorry." Max's blurry form stood over Alec's crumpled one as he struggled to control the pain.

The ring girl rang the bell and the announcer entered the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for out new champion, the Curvaceous Killer!" He grabbed Max's arm and held it above her head. Max tried to look pleased, but failed miserably.

The crowd cheered as Max looked around. She saw Logan, Matt Sung and some other cops heading to Tony's table. They walked past Mia, who started to follow them. Max quickly exited the ring and stepped in front of Mia.

"Hey! If you were thinking of going over there and working your mojo on Dougie, think again."

Mia looked annoyed. Max touched her nose, found that it had stopped bleeding, and wiped the last of the blood off her face. She went to move towards Logan, but almost fell over, dizziness taking over her motor control. Mia smiled sympathetically, making Max suspicious again.

Dougie closed his eyes; not believing that the tip Mia had given him had turned out to be a dud.

Tony looked at him pointedly, "Come on. Let's take a little ride, hmm?"

The gangsters got up, and motioned Dougie to also stand. Logan and the cops approached and Logan pointed to Dougie.

"Douglas Colantonio?" Matt Sung asked, flashing his badge, "Detective Matt Dung, Seattle P.D."

Tony sneered at Matt, "He's got nothing to say to you."

Logan quickly broke in, "You're about to get dead, Dougie. You were on thin ice with the boss already, and that's _before_ you lost him a lot of money. You go with them, you're gonna end your night in cement shoes."

"'Cement shoes'?" A gangster asked, trying to sound nonchalant, "Who talks like that?"

"These clowns don't know what they're talkin' about." Tony broke in, "Come on." They moved to pull Dougie towards the door, but Dougie resisted.

"We're ready to take you into protective custody. Just say the word." Matt tried to reassure Dougie.

"You won't get as good an offer from the boss." Logan warned, "Tell us who he is, you get a fresh start."

"Come on, Books. Let's go. Come on." Tony and the other gangsters pulled at Dougie again, then each whispered into one of his ears, trying to get him to go with them.

"All you have to do is point a finger." Logan added.

Dougie looked back and forth nervously as he tried to make up his mind. Finally he pointed at a woman and yelled, "That's him right there!"

Sparacino, dressed as a woman, got up from the table he had been sitting at, and began running.

Matt followed his movements with his eyes, "Stop her!"

The gangsters tried once more to pull Dougie towards the door, but were grabbed by the cops instead.

"You're dead!" Tony yelled as he was hauled away, "You're dead!"

Sparacino jumped over the railing and stumbled in his long dress, but continued to run around the side of the fighting cage. Mia stopped him with a punch at the corner of the ring.

She turned back to Max, "I never really liked him much anyway."

They both turned to watch as Matt Sung put the handcuffs on Sparacino, "You're under arrest for murder, racketeering, and bookmaking. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Go." The two officers who were holding Sparacino against the cage hauled him to his feet and towards the door.

* * *

Later, when the crowd was gone, Logan and Max listened as Mia filled them in on her plan. Dougie sat at a nearby table, asleep.

"Now wait a second. I don't get it." Logan was still getting his head around what Mia had just told him, "You _wanted_ Dougie to flip?"

"I've been trying to get him out of this life since the day we met." Mia offered in explanation, "That's how come I had you do the Eyes Only hack – to push Dougie into doing the right thing."

"So this whole thing was a setup?" Max pushed away from the cage and crossed her arms.

"Uh-huh." Mia replied, sounding very proud of herself. "I knew you guys would show up here once you got onto me. Plus I knew you'd do whatever it took to help keep Dougie from running off."

Logan and Max just looked at her, she had a point.

The announcer walked past Max and handed Mia a bagful of money. "Here you go miss."

"Oh, thank you." Mia replied, as the announcer looked timidly at Max, then walked away.

"What's that?" Max asked suspiciously.

"My winnings."

"You bet on me?" Max asked uncertainly.

"Of course."

"How'd you know I'd win?"

Mia sighed, "'Cause girls kick ass. That's what the T-shirt says, right?"

_I think I like this Mia, _Max thought, turning towards Logan as he spoke.

"Now wait a second. If you wanted to get Dougie to quit the life, why didn't you just do your little thing to make him do what you wanted?"

"You know, I think that's why I love him so much. He's totally immune to me. I think it's 'cause his brain wiring's a bit screwy on account of his condition." Mia nodded conclusively.

"So you _like_ not having him wrapped around your finger?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. What fun is being in love if everything's easy?"

Max raised her eyebrows and looked at Logan, staring into his eyes for a moment until Normal broke into their chain of thought.

"Look what you did to him." He said to Max, he and Biggs supporting Alec between them, "What the hell are you?"

Max and Logan exchanged a panicked glance. Max looked at Biggs, then at Mia.

"Uh – Normal, honey, you need to forget everything you saw here tonight." Mia broke in.

"I do?"

"Mm-hmm. Just let Biggs take Alec back to his place, you go on home to bed. Maybe you'll have one of those nice _gladiator_ dreams you like so much."

Suddenly Normal felt like that was precisely what he wanted to do, "Yeah. I like that."

"And you – here you go." Mia handed Alec some money, "Thank you so much."

Alec smelled the bills, then smiled at Mia, still out of it.

Normal ruffled Alec's hair, then he and Biggs pulled the dazed X5 towards the door, "Let's go, there, buddy."

As they passed Max, Alec's smile faded and he glared at her, looking uncomfortable. Max grinned, unable to hide her pleasure in beating him.

"All right, Dougie." Mia set the bag of money on Dougie's lap, waking him up."Time to go."

"Where? Where we going?" Dougie asked.

"Maui." She patted him on the shoulder and giggled, "Come on. We've got a plane to catch."

She turned back towards Max and Logan, then walked to Logan and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You are a beautiful, talented man." Logan looked at Max with raised eyebrows and Mia turned to speak to her, "And you? You couldn't be a more rocking, awesome chick if you tried. You two are going to have the best life together. You're so perfect for each other. I know life stinks a little right now, but it can't always stink, right?" Max looked at Logan, her own eyebrows raised. He returned the look, trying to express all his feelings for her in one moment. "Believe me. If Dougie and I can make it work, so can you. Always remember that, okay?"

"I have the feeling I will." _Especially now that you've stopped putting the whammy on me every time we speak._

"All right, Nappy, time to go." Mia threw her feather boa over her shoulder and took Dougie's arm. They walked away, leaving Logan and Max watching after them.

"Can't really be mad at her." Max commented, "I mean, you got your guy." She turned towards him.  
Logan watched them walk out the door, "And she got hers." He turned to Max, "Shall we?"

Max smiled, "May as well."

They turned to go, staying as close as they could without touching.

"So I hear you're a rocking, awesome chick." Logan said as he put on his jacket.

"And you're a beautiful, talented man." Max replied, nudging Logan's jacketed abdomen.

"That's right." They walked out to the parking lot, stopping in front of Logan's Aztek. "You wanna come over?"

Max smiled, "I'd like that. I think I'm in the mood to win a few more fights tonight." Her smiled widened into a grin.

"Oh really?" Logan replied, "Don't think you can beat me that easily."

Max laughed, "Logan, out of all the times we've played you've only beaten me twice."

"Third time lucky." He said with confidence.

Striding over to her Ninja, Max straddled the bike and looked back at Logan. "You're on." Putting on her yellow-tinted glasses, she was out of the parking lot before Logan could get his key into the door.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Logan looked with disbelief at the chessboard. Max had beaten him in less than half an hour.

Max looked at the expression on Logan's face and smirked. "Somehow I don't think Lady Luck is with you tonight."

"I think you may be right. I can't believe it only took you twenty-five minutes to checkmate me."

"Well believe it." Taking Logan's stolen pieces from her side of the board, Max began to set up the board for another game.

"No wait." Logan said, making Max pause her movements, "Let's not play any more chess tonight, let's watch a movie instead."

Max was hesitant; _if we get too close I may end up touching him again…I can't do that._ "I dunno…what about the virus Logan?"

"Don't worry Max. We don't have to cuddle. I can sit at one end of the couch and you can sit at the other." Without waiting for a reply, Logan stood up and went to his bedroom, returning moments later with a thick navy blanket.

He went to his TV cabinet and extracted a DVD. Placing it in the DVD player, he walked to the couch and switched the TV on. Max still sat in the armchair she had been playing chess in. Logan motioned her over and she slowly walked to the couch, sitting as far away from Logan as possible.

_She's so scared of infecting me again. Her concern for my life is cute, but annoying at the same time. All I want is to sit close to her, even if I can't touch her, but she's too scared for even that._ Logan sighed and pressed 'play'.

"So what are we watching?" Max asked as she pulled her legs up beside her butt. _I so wanna move closer to him, but I can't risk touching him…I won't risk it._

"The Mummy." Logan replied, handing Max the case.

She read the blurb and smiled, "Sounds good. For a minute there I thought you were gonna pull out some sappy romantic comedy or something."

Logan smirked at her, "I know you better than that."

_That you do Logan,_ Max thought, _you know me better than anyone else I know, except maybe Zack. But Zack doesn't understand human emotions; he could never understand why I love you so much, even if I find it hard to tell you. And of course now Zack doesn't know me at all…he doesn't even know who he is…and it's my fault. But how could I have just let him kill you?_

"Max?"

Logan's concerned tone broke Max out of her thoughts. She blinked and looked at Logan, "yeah?"

"Wanna join me on earth?"

"Sure." Turning her attention to Logan's widescreen television, Max settled down to watch the movie.

* * *

By the time the movie finished, Max was lying across Logan's lap, on top of the blanket. He rested his hand on her back, and had to force himself to restrain from running his hand through her hair. _She's so close, and I'm pretty sure that she'd allow me to…_a voice in his head reasoned, but another, more forceful voice spoke up, _but Logan remember the virus!_ He sighed, _yeah…almost forgot that even thought Max would probably allow me to stroke her hair, doing so would certainly kill me._

Similar thoughts were running through Max's own mind, _I so wish I could touch him right now…it's torture feeling his hand on my back but knowing that we can't get any closer than this…_She slowly sat up, leaving Logan plenty of time to move his hand, but he didn't.

"So how did you like the movie?" he asked, his hand still resting on her back.

Max shrugged, trying to ignore the distraction of the heat of Logan's hand through her thin shirt, "It was pretty good, funny in parts, but not lacking in action. Kinda liked the romantic parts too."

"Good all-rounder. The sequel is a little more romantic, but has just as much humour and action."

Max smiled slightly, "We should watch it some time."

Logan smiled back at her, "We should. How abou-" his words were cut off with a huge yawn.

Max chuckled, "Looks like someone's a little bit tired." She checked her watch. "Well no wonder, it's almost midnight."

"Weird, I don't usually get so tired this early…must have been all the excitement of the day."

"Yeah, well I'm not gonna keep you up, go to bed."

"K, goodnight Max." Logan got up and walked to the door, then turned around, "I love you."

Max grinned, but Logan noticed that her facial expression didn't quite match her eyes, "You too. Night."

Chalking up Max's response to nerves at how close they had been just now, Logan chose not to comment, and headed towards his bedroom.

Max threw her head against the couch back. _Damn it! Why does he have to look so hot all the time? And I bet he noticed that I didn't say 'I love you'…_ Shaking her head to get out of the downward spiral she was in, Max stood up to go to the kitchen, but fell immediately back down onto the couch. _Whoa, where the hell did that dizziness come from? Must have stood up too fast…but that's never stopped me before…must be coming down with something._ Standing up a little slower this time, Max found that her vertigo had passed, so she made her way to the kitchen to get a midnight snack.

There she found the last two chocolate-chip cookies of the batch Logan had made two days prior, washing them down with a glass of milk. _Haven't had a seizure since I returned from Manticore, but the dizziness and tiredness are usually symptoms of a seizure, so it can't hurt to take some precautionary measures._

Filling the glass again, Max took her milk to the guestroom, where she drained the glass and set it on the nightstand. She went to the dresser and picked out a tank top and shorts, then shed her clothes and changed into the sleepwear.

Moving into Logan's room, Max found him sacked out on top of the sheets. _Wow, he _was_ tired. He only took off the exo…didn't even take off his shirt…damn, coulda done with some pec visuals tonight._ She smiled to herself and settled into an armchair that sat near the window of Logan's room. _So yet again I'm reduced to watching the man I love sleep the night away…who'da thunk I'd prefer this over riding my baby all night long?_

* * *

Silhouetted by Seattle's night lights, two figures made their way into an unfinished apartment in sector five.

"Max is gonna kill you when she finds out." Biggs shifted nervously beside Alec as he jimmied the lock and pushed him through the doorway.

Alec's face was still bruised but the swelling had gone down considerably. "Exactly. Max'll be after me. She's not going to touch one perfectly gelled hair on your pretty face." He straightened up and glared at his best friend. "Are you going to be a wimp about this?"

Biggs glared right back. "Now, I know you did not just call me a wimp, pretty boy."

"I did just call you a wimp, butthead."

"I would hit you so hard if you weren't my CO."

Alec smirked. "I know. It's one of the many benefits."

"Does that include being kicked in the balls by Max?"

"At least this time she has a genuine reason."

* * *

The next morning Logan awoke to the sun's glaring rays on his face. _Looks like it's gonna be a nice day…first sunny day we've had in a month._ He pulled himself into a sitting position. _Wow I must have been really tired last night; I didn't even change my shirt._ Moving to the edge of the bed, Logan positioned his wheelchair, then transferred into it. He moved towards the wardrobe, but a soft noise made him turn around.

Curled up in the armchair near his window was Max, fast asleep. Logan wheeled over to her and gazed at her beautiful face. It was still hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that someone as stunning as Max could fall for him and he wished he could show her how much he appreciated her in his life. _But I can't touch her, at least not skin on skin, not unless I want to be dead an hour later._

He knew that Max often spent her nights watching him sleep since they'd confessed their feelings for one another, though today had been the first time she had not left in the early hours of the morning and returned later for breakfast. _She must have been really tired to fall asleep and not wake up before me._ He wanted to rouse her and tell her how much he loved her, but she probably needed the sleep, so he left her on the chair, careful to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake her. _Lately she's always complaining that she's tired…I hope she's not coming down with something._

Once he had finished in the shower, Logan dried himself off and reached for the pile of clothes on the seat of the wheelchair. _Shit!_ He thought upon realizing that he had forgotten to bring a shirt into the bathroom. "And I already put yesterday's shirt in the washing basket…If I go back in there I'm definitely gonna wake up Max…" Logan thought aloud as he pondered his problem, "I guess I'll just have to do without a shirt for now, once Max is up I'll get it." Dilemma sorted, Logan put on his boxers and wheeled into his therapy room to put on the exoskeleton.

An incredible smell drifted through Max's nostrils and woke her. She sat up straight, looking around the room confused, but then realized she was somewhere safe and relaxed back into the chair. _Wow, I didn't realize I was so tired; I must have drifted off…that makes what…_ Max did a quick calculation in her head, _twenty hours of sleep this week, and it's only Wednesday! Must be one helluva seizure coming._

Uncurling herself and standing up, Max followed the delicious smell out to the kitchen, where she found Logan cooking breakfast…shirtless. _Oh my…_she thought, heat rising to her cheeks, _…god he looks hot. I just wanna go over there and…stop right there._ Max chided herself, pulling her thoughts out of the gutter. _And I'm not even in heat…but knowing what's under those jeans…whoa girl, remember the virus._ Better than a cool shower, the realization that she could look and not touch was an instant lust-killer. "Hey." She said, cursing the huskiness of her voice. "What's cooking?"

"Pancakes." Logan replied without turning around.

Hopping up on the counter, Max pouted, "Aren't you even going to look at me?"

Logan spun on one foot and smiled at Max, "Better?" He drank in her curves, barely hidden under a skimpy black tank top and short gray drawstring shorts. _Does she know how sexy her pajamas are now that I know what's underneath?_ Logan questioned, then remembered the virus. Looking into Max's eyes, he saw his own desire reflected in her chocolate pools, as well as the sadness of knowing they couldn't do anything to extinguish said desire.

"Much." Max replied, hooking one leg under the other. "So what's with this no-shirt look? Not that I mind…" She grinned saucily, "…but since when do you choose not to wear a shirt?"

"I forgot to take one when I went to take a shower, and I didn't want to wake you by coming back in. I know how tired you've been lately. 'S why I didn't cook bacon and eggs, bacon spits ya know."

Despite being touched by Logan's concern for her health, Max couldn't resist commenting on his last statement, "Yeah, that could have been bad. But at least then both sides of your torso would match; burns on one side, bullet wounds on the other."

Logan's eyes clouded over, and Max wondered if she should have kept that comment to herself – he was still extremely sensitive about the shooting. But his eyes cleared after a moment and he nodded seriously. "Why don't you go take a quick shower while I finish up here, I know you have to be at work soon."

Hopping off the counter, Max went to the guest room where she kept some spare clothes.

* * *

Original Cindy awoke to the shrill sound of her alarm going off. She shoved aside the blankets and got out of bed, moving quickly over cold cement to the bathroom for her shower.

As she dressed for work in her room, OC noticed it was oddly quiet in the apartment. She ducked into the second bedroom to check, and sure enough Max's bed was empty and cold. _So suga finally spent the night at her boy's._ Suddenly, OC realized that Max had never spent the night at Logan's since they had confirmed their relationship, save for the first night when the virus was temporarily out of the way.

_I know she can't touch him, but surely she could spend the night in the guest room. She goes over there for breakfast almost every morning anyways._ She left the apartment, thoughts on Max and Logan's new relationship, and she wondered how much time Max had spent obsessing over her changing relationship with her hot boy. _I definitely know that the two of them have finally admitted their feelings for one another, but now, five weeks later, it seems like they've almost gone back to the 'only friends' dealio._ Despite spending more time with one another, it seemed that they never did things that a normal couple did."Then again, they ain't exactly normal." OC reminded herself, "I guess not being able to touch kinda puts a dampener on the whole 'new relationship' dealio."

She skidded around the red brick corner and down the ramp, recalling a discussion with Max and CeCe about Logan. _Well, if you can call what we had a discussion. She was looking kinda down, so I asked her about her day and she **volunteered** the Logan information. I pounced on the opportunity, how could I not? After all, not touching your boyfriend has got to put a strain on even the most genetically enhanced person._

FLASH

"I thought you two were trying to get things back to normal?" CeCe commented.

Max nodded, "So I figured what's more normal than volunteering for his oh-so-urgent, let's-save-the-world-by-Tuesday Eyes Only missions?"

"The man loves his work almost as much as he loves you boo." OC stated.

"That's the true love you read bout in Shakespeare." CeCe put in.

"Yeah, the kind where they die when they profess their love." OC retorted.

"Hey, we can always skip that scene and go straight to the bedroom." CeCe smirked, thinking about her own bedroom antics.

"Only I guess I forgot how focused he can get." Max's blatant ignorance of the little argument wasn't lost on either of her friends. "I mean, he asks for my help, but then it's like nothing I do is good enough. Sometimes I just don't get him."

OC diverted her eyes to the stairs, "Well get this. Here comes your boy, and I bet he's bringing an apology with him."

ENDFLASH

Logan hadn't brought an apology with him that night, as Max had explained the next day. But the lack of apology wasn't what was worrying OC, it was the way Max obviously passed over OC's comment of how much Logan loved her. _Aside from that first night, has she ever told him that she loves him?_ OC wondered, then realized that while she had heard Logan tell Max 'I love you' plenty of times over the past couple of weeks, Max only every replied 'you too' or 'back atcha' or something similar.

Like just after he rescued her from that CDC lockdown… 

FLASH

OC stepped into the kitchen to give the couple a moment. She leaned against the counter and looking back at them, observed their self-conscious interaction.

"You look like you're in good hands here." Logan shifted awkwardly, "I've got some Eyes Only work… so-"

"Hey." Max interrupted.

"What?" his expression was hopeful, but cautious.

"Thanks. For…" She indicated her strapped ankle, "…you know."

Max smiled, and Logan smiled back, their eyes locking for a moment.

"Yeah." He paused, then continued, "I love you Max."

The smile faded slightly from her friend's face, but it seemed that Logan had missed it.

"Me too."

ENDFLASH

"Hey."

OC blinked and smile, brought out of her silent musing by Max's voice. Her friend looked happy but sad at the same time. _Original Cindy is gonna have to have a talk with her boo about reminding Logan what she feels,_ OC thought, _and soon_.

That evening after work Max and OC returned to their apartment to get ready for a trip to Crash. After changing her clothes, Max went into the living room to put on her lip gloss, but noticed something was missing…

Wait… 

OC came back into the room, "Ready to go?"

Max turned around, her face a mixture of shock and anger.

TO BE CONTINUED…

**

* * *

Roll Call:**

**toxic honey:** thanks for your high praise. as you can see, we are writing more to this; we left some unanswered questions in the first part, they we need to answer (eventually).

**All Grown Up:** it's (obviously) how I (Somebody's Angel) think BT should have gone as well…fcking gossamer!

**M/L Only:** my thoughts exactly. at least the other nomalies looked somewhat human, that gossamer was something out of Jurassic Park! MissBehaving was a bit iffy about the thoughts – there were too many in her opinion, so I'm glad you liked them, gives me more leverage on putting more thoughts in future chaps!

**agmgdafan, forever eyes and abreganza:** thanks for the praise, hope you like this part just as much.


	3. Bringing Up to Score

**Bringing Up to Score  
by Somebody's Angel and MissBehaving**

WHERE WE LEFT OFF…

OC came back into the room, "Ready to go?"

Max turned around, her face a mixture of shock and anger.

* * *

Max snatched up a piece of torn paper left on the floor.

"ALEC!"

"Um, Original Cindy don't mean to intrude, but aren't you forgetting your guy, 'Logan'?"

Max just held out the note.

"'payback's a bitch'? Break it down for Original Cindy." Original Cindy looked at Max's irate face and clenched fists.

"I kicked Alec's ass, so he took my bike."

Understanding flooded Original Cindy's face. _I feel sorry for Alec,_ she thought. _He's gonna get it real bad._ "Ouch."

"By the time I get through with him, he's gonna _wish_ I just kicked him in the balls again." Max said, opening her hands to reveal white crescents on her palms. "No-one, but _no-one_ is allowed to touch my baby, revenge or no."

"You let Logan _drive_ your baby." OC pointed out.

Max gave her a look, "That's different. a) I was _with _Logan when he was driving my bike and b) this is Alec we're talking about."

OC returned Max's look with one of her own. "Or maybe its just _Logan_."

Max waved her off, "Whatever, the point is that Alec has _stolen_ my baby, and is probably using it to pick up girls."

* * *

Max walked into Crash, her eyes scanning the occupants of the main floor with inhuman speed and dismissing them when Alec's smug face was nowhere to be seen. Ignoring Original Cindy's inquiry about what she would like to drink, Max headed to the back room to ensure Alec wasn't there.

On her way she spied Sketchy talking to a girl, and walked up to the two of them.

"Heya Sketch." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The girl threw Sketchy a dirty look, before leaving abruptly.

"Hey, I was-" Sketchy began to protest, before Max cut him off.

"Where the hell's Alec?"

"My man?" Sketchy asked, slurring slightly.

"Yes your man. Where is he?" Max replied impatiently.

"I don't understand why he always gets the girls. Plural. Not just one at a time. I mean, is it his looks or his-"

"Sketchy." Max interrupted warningly.

"Uh, he left with some girl, talking about a high place…or maybe he said his place-Hey where are you going?" Sketchy watched Max's retreating back until OC placed a pitcher of beer in front of him.

"Max and Alec had quite a few unresolved issues." She stated when Sketchy turned his confused look her way.

"What kind of issues?"

"The kind where you steal someone's soul."

"Ohhh…" he paused. "We are talking about her bike, right?"

"Of course we're talking about her bike fool. Anymore stupid comments and Original Cindy will take away your beer."

* * *

Max's anger has dissipated somewhat during her run, however the sight of _her_ Ninja leaning against _her_ Space Needle brought it all flooding back.

Moving to her bike, Max quickly checked that it was none the worse for wear. Running her hands lovingly over the seat she murmured, "Thank God you're OK sweetheart. That mean, nasty Alec didn't hurt you did he?"

On his way down, Alec paused when he heard Max speaking. _She's making me out to be some big nasty dragon. Can't she see that I appreciate good rides…hmm rides…_ He let his mind wander to rides, and the owner of this particular ride.

After a few minutes he looked down to see Max's irate face. _Wait…this isn't the look she has in my fantasies…that means this is real…_ His fantasy quickly dissolved into the gloomy stairwell of reality. _Shit._ "Hey Max." The cocky smirk on his face didn't match his nervously darting eyes.

In reply Max simply grabbed the front of his shirt and threw him over her head and down the last flight of stairs.

Alec looked up at the fuming beauty that was Max. Again his thoughts wandered to what might be under the tight blue jeans and leather jacket she wore.

"Don't 'Hey Max' me." Max stalked down to where Alec was lying and grabbed his collar.

"I'm sorry?" It was more of a question than an apology.

"No you're not." She pulled his face close to hers. "Yes, I kicked you where it hurts, but a) you deserved it and b) my baby didn't deserve to be punished."

_I can see the shine of her lip gloss. And if I lean just a little bit closer, I could taste it._ Alec dragged his eyes from Max's lips to her eyes, and saw barely restrained fury in her cocoa-coloured orbs. _Then again, if I did kiss her it'd be the last thing I'd ever do._ His eyes drifted down to her chest. _ But what a way to go!_

Max didn't like the smile that was coming over Alec's face. Nor did she like the way his eyes were roaming over her body. "Look at me when I'm talkin' to you!" she snapped.

"I am looking at you. And it's a damn fine view." Was the sarmy reply.

Max tilted his chin upwards with a finger.

_Oh my god she's touching me. Voluntarily, and without violence!_ Alec thought, his brain struggling to process Max's words while her finger was in contact with his skin. _She said something about eyes…her eyes…_Alec's line of thought was ended abruptly when Max's fist came towards him. _ So much for no violence._

* * *

"Where the fire truck is Max?" Normal screeched at Original Cindy and Sketchy, not noticing that Alec was also absent.

Sketchy scratched his head. "Uh, Max is one of the few contestants that have won-"

"She'll be here any minute, she …" _is still in the clothes she wore last night,_ Original Cindy thought when Max and Alec walked through the door together. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Alec's arm around Max's shoulders. Even more startling was that Max didn't seem to notice its presence.

"Normal, hey buddy, sorry we're late." Alec called out to Normal as they strolled down the ramp.

"I slept in, so sue me." Max added.

"I think I tired her out last night." Alec told Normal conspirationally, and watched with satisfaction as Normal's eyes bugged out. Max glared at him, and threw his arm off her shoulder, as if she had just noticed it was there.

"It's your own fault." Max turned to face Alec and pointed at him, "You started it."

"No, _you_ started it." Alec retorted incredulously. "You kissed me first." _Monty Cora shoots, and he scores!_

Max just glared at him, "I wasn't myself." She spat.

Alec grinned cockily, "Stop making excuses, you want me bad and you-"

He was stopped by OC's hand over his mouth and her voice in his ear, "Your family jewels are in danger of relocation if you finish that thought."

Alec's mouth immediately snapped shut, barely missing OC's fingers. _Great. Not only are my family jewels in danger, so's my reputation if she decides to kick my ass again. And because Max is Max, I can't even fight back properly._

Max saw Alec's face go from smug to…_Great, he's got that lovesick look again, like he did last night._

OC pulled Max away from Alec, towards the lockers. "Whoa girl, if looks could kill your boy'd be six feet under three times over, and you've only been here five minutes. Speaking of which, where were you last night? You didn't spend the night at Roller Boy's crib did you?"

Max rolled her eyes. "I only wish. Caught up with Alec at the Space Needle, had to kick his ass again. Then I went over to Joshua's. Oh, and Cindy?"

"Hmm?"

"Alec's not my boy."

* * *

"This morning, they went walking into Jam Pony together. Alec had his arm around her, and they looked pretty cozy from where I was standing." Asha watched Logan's shoulders slump, and held back her annoyance. _I guess he's a little more infatuated with his pretty little pet than I thought._

Her expression held only sympathy when Logan looked up again. _Good thing he doesn't know Max wasn't happy with Alec afterwards. Why's he gonna pick a freak he can't touch over me, someone he's known for a helluva lot longer. He wants someone normal, like me. Max doesn't stand a chance._ She touched his shoulder. "You deserve better than someone who will cheat on you the moment you're not around." She glanced at Logan's despondent figure one last time, and left the apartment with a small smile on her lips.

_She's lying, _Logan's mind screamed at him, but doubt was already eating at him. _Or is she?_

* * *

"Look who came down from his pedestal to mingle with the lowly commoners," Mole drawled as he chewed on the end of his cigar.

Alec opened his mouth to respond but he was beaten to the punch by Mikel's voice. "You wanna talk about being on a pedestal, just look at Max. Alec's pedestal for her is so high, if she ever fell off, she would never hit the ground."

"Alec and the ordinary would catch her," Mole agreed.

Biggs snorted. "Like the '09er would let herself be caught by anyone but Logan." There was general laughter at Alec's expense all around.

Alec scowled and waved his arms around. "Hello? I'm right here. And I know some very unpopular sentry shifts that need to be filled." Alec smirked as he got instant silence. _Better than threats of castration._ "What did the X5s bring back?"

Mikel tossed him a grey plastic folder. "There's a recommendation of soldiers suitable to form the small unit." He pointed to the list of twelve at the bottom of the page.

Hart scowled. "Why is Leon there? He's an asshole. He'll jeopardise everyone by doing his own thing."

Cai stepped forward. "That asshole is the best at what he does and right now, what we need is the best. So he screwed you over once, Hart, let it go. He'll get the mission accomplished no problem.

Alec nodded. "Leon's definitely in for this round. Just make the other's know they're on their own and Cai?"

"Yeah boss?"

"We need to have a little chat with Leon about hooking up the power supply of TC to the main grid."

* * *

Three weeks later…

Max silently let herself into Logan's penthouse after a wet, gruelling day at Jam Pony. She walked to the computer room, knowing that Logan would be too absorbed with his computer to hear her less-than-silent approach. "Knock knock." She knocked lightly on the doorframe.

Logan looked up to see Max smiling down at him. "You know, actually knocking might be just as effective." He smiled back at her.

"I need the practice. Haven't had to break into anywhere for a while now…although with your locks I'm surprised you don't just leave the damn door open."

Logan shook his head, "It's proved effective against everything except genetically-enhanced cat burglars."

Max tilted her head to one side, "You know more than one genetically-enhanced cat burglar?" _Has Alec been bugging him again?_

"The only one who matters is the gorgeous one standing in front of me." He replied, and Max felt her skin flush with the compliment.

"I'm gonna grab a shower. You in the mood to feed a girl?" She asked as she turned towards the bathroom.

"I'm always in the mood to cook for you Max."

Max grinned and headed to the bathroom. Logan saved his work and walked into the kitchen to prepare their dinner.

Ten minutes later Logan was chopping vegetables as Max entered, dressed in black trackpants and a maroon tank top, her freshly washed hair loose, the chestnut strands slowly curling upwards as they dried.

"Smells good in here." Max commented.

"Really? I'm just boiling water." Logan replied, indicating the saucepan sitting on the stove.

"Oh…then it must be you." Max smiled wickedly, and went to a cupboard to take out some wine glasses. "So, what are you in the mood for…" She trailed off as she noticed the lust-filled gaze Logan was throwing in her direction, but managed to continue when she saw the understanding underneath the lust, "red or white?"

"I think red." Logan replied to Max's back as she went to his wine rack.

When dinner was ready – some kind of vegetable pasta that Max couldn't remember the name of – Logan carried the plates to the dining table Max had set. Sitting down to eat, he asked her about her day.

"You wouldn't believe how bad it was. First off OC didn't come home last night, so she came in at about 7am screeching that she'd be late for work. Woke me up…and I was having a really nice dream too…" The seductive look in Max's eyes gave Logan a clear indication of what her dream had been about. "Anyways, Normal, Sketchy and Alec decided that today was gang-up-on-Max day, and they were bitching and complaining all day. Then I had a run-in with a sector cop just before my lunchbreak, he didn't like my Jam Pony ID, something about my hair being curly in the picture but straight in person, and he had to call Normal and confirm that I did work there. When I finally got back Normal decided that I had taken my break in the hour between the time the cop called him and the time I rode into the place, so I had to go without lunch. And to top it all off, it was raining buckets all day…sorry about your wet floor by the way, I'll clean it up later."

"I already did, while you were showering. Wouldn't want anyone – namely me – to slip and fall."

"Yeah, I've heard water does bad things to that exo of yours."

Logan sighed. "That it does." He twirled the last of his pasta onto his fork and placed it in his mouth.

While Max cleared the table and stacked the dishwasher, Logan took the wine bottle and their glasses to the living room, setting them on the coffee table.

When she came into the room he was sitting in the armchair, leaving the entire couch for her. He eyed her up and down as she walked to the couch, as he did every time he saw her, and she came alive with the emotions in his gaze. It was want, but also love, desire, trust, admiration and a million other things that she couldn't name. Look but don't touch. It was their new mantra, to replace the "we're not like that" the two had chanted the previous year.

Her hands were now encased in leather gloves, as were Logan's. It had become a habit of theirs; to be able to touch one another, even through fabric, was better than not touching at all.

"Thanks for clearing up, you're sweet, like honey."

"Ouch!!" he yelped when she smacked his fabric-covered arm.

Max laughed at his girly reply, then stretched out on the couch, resting her head on the arm closest to Logan. "Don't call me honey, alright? I'm not food, so don't call me food nicknames, and I'm not sweet, so you can't call me 'sweetie'."

"I gotta call you something. And it's gotta be sweet cause you're my girlfriend and I have to call you sweet things even if you're not sweet yourself. It's practically required by law." He was quiet for a moment, "I know." Max turned onto her stomach, and looked at him questioningly. "Angel."

Max smiled, "I'm not somebody's angel anymore. Now I'm your angel."

"Yeah," he smiled back, covering her hand with his own, "You are."

They stared into one another's eyes for a few moments, before Max's genetically-engineered hearing picked up a faint scraping at the front door. Silently indicating to Logan to stay where he was, Max slipped off the couch and headed towards the front door, her shoes making no sound on the hardwood floors.

Upon reaching the foyer, Max took up a place to one side of the door, ready to attack the person who had picked the lock. The door swung open and a dark head peered in. The moment the intruder took a step inside the penthouse Max grabbed him by the shoulder and flipped him to the floor. Or at least that was what she had intended to do. Instead, the minute her hand touched solid flesh, she found herself being tossed to the ground, a firm hand on her neck pushing her face into the floor.

"You picked the wrong place to rob, _buddy_." A rough voice whispered in her ear.

"You really think I'd be robbing the place dressed like this?" The hardwood floor muffled Max's sarcastic reply.

"Maybe stripping…"

Max felt a hand running over her torso, and attempted to lever the person off, only to be slammed down onto the floor, face up this time. Blinking rapidly, Max found herself staring into her own brown eyes…

"Krit! It's me, Max." She choked out.

His features twisted into a sneer, "Max is dead. But hey, good try girly. Let's see …"

"I didn't die Krit-" Max began, her words cut off when Krit flipped her onto her stomach and brushed her hair away from her neck.

Seeing her barcode, he immediately got off her and offered a hand to help her get to her feet.

The minute Max was on her feet she was accosted by a familiar blonde-headed sister.

"Max! You're alive!" Syl exclaimed, flinging her arms around her baby sister. Krit hugged them both, his face in Max's hair.

Looking over the arms of her siblings, Max saw Logan's sad expression and she knew he was wishing he could join the hug without the fear of death.

"Uh…guys it's gettin' kinda hard to breathe…" Max gasped; fearing her ribs might collapse under the pressure Krit and Syl were currently placing on them.

Immediately the pressure was released, and Max's siblings stepped back.

"Hey Krit, Syl." Logan stepped in, and was hugged fiercely by Syl. Krit shook his hand, then Logan indicated the interior of his apartment, "do you wanna continue this reunion in the living room?"

Max led the way into the living room and sat on the couch, with Krit in the armchair and Syl perched on the arm of the couch closest to Max. Logan looked at Max, enquiring if she wanted time alone with her siblings, but Max shook her head.

"So…how…you…" Krit was lost for words, but Max understood what he was asking.

She cast her eyes toward the floor, and mentally braced herself. She hadn't fully explained how she had survived to Logan either, so now was as good a time as any, yet…

"I did die." She whispered softly, and Logan had to strain to understand her words. "Or at least, when I was shot my heart stopped beating." She looked up and gave them an empty smile. "They were going to prepare me for harvesting my organs. But Zack, he only had a flesh wound, he saw me and when they said they couldn't bring me back without an X5 heart, he…he shot himself." Syl slid onto the couch next to Max and opened her arms. Max leaned into Syl's embrace, drawing strength from her big sister to continue her story. "He shot himself to save me. To give me his heart. I have his heart." She brushed the tears away with a quick swipe, almost as if she was angry with herself for crying.

Krit's hands tightened into fists. _Zack was always on at me about phony sentimentality and how we can't get too attached to anyone. And then he kills himself for a woman who doesn't even love him back._

"So I survived, and played along while they tried to re-indoctrinate me." Max continued, oblivious to Krit's feelings. "Alec, a clone of Ben's, helped me to escape. Then Logan did an Eyes Only hack to expose the Manticore facility near Seattle, so I went back to free the others. I had to. They were going to burn down the buildings with everyone locked inside…I let them out." No longer able to fight her tears, Max's vision was blurred as she hugged her big sister, who was equally moved.

When their tears dried, Max pulled away from Syl, and the two of them looked up at their men. Syl moved off the seat of the couch and sat on the arm again. Logan sat down on the couch, leaving a notable gap between him and Max.

Krit stood up, "I need a drink."

"You know where the kitchen is." Logan replied, too familiar with Max and Alec's lack of manners to be insulted at Krit's forwardness.

"Syl, you want one?" Krit asked over his shoulder as he walked away.

Syl nodded even though Krit was no longer in the room and Max gave her a strange look.

"What's up with that?" Max asked.

"What's up with that?" Syl countered, indicating the space between Max and Logan.

"I asked you first." Max replied as Krit came back wielding two bottles.

"Up." He nudged her with his foot.

Syl was on her feet long enough for Krit to slip into the space beside Max and pull her onto his lap. He handed her a bottle and Max gave Syl another look.

"Again, same question."

"He's a one night stand that just keeps repeating."

Krit scowled and tightened his grip on her thigh. "Yeah, we hooked up a couple of months before the attack on Manticore."

"So things are definitely looking up." Syl squirmed on Krit's lap.

"And rising fast." Krit added, now placated with the semi-promise of sex.

Max wrinkled her nose, "Too much information."

"So I answered your question, now you answer mine." Syl ignored Krit's wandering hands and stared pointedly at Max. "Last time I checked things were looking up between you two."

Max and Logan exchanged a glance, which Syl didn't miss.

"They were. 'Til a certain smart-aleck came along and screwed us over with a retro-virus genetically targeted-" Max was cut off when Syl realized what had happened.

"To his DNA, gotcha."

"Ouch. That's gotta make things hard." Krit commented with an innocent schoolboy look on his face.

Syl smacked Krit on the back of the head. "Shut your hole, or I won't take care of your little 'problem' later."

An indignant look passed over his face. "Hey! No cracks at Krit Jr. He's got a sensitive ego."

"Krit Jr.?"

"Little Krit gave the wrong impression on the ladies. Besides Syl, you can vouch for how big he is."

"I didn't need to hear that." Max shook her head, "There are some things about my siblings that I just don't need to know."

Syl smiled and passed her water to Krit, before getting off his lap to go to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Krit asked her immediately, quazi-panicked.

"Where do you think I'm going?" She replied.

"Can I come?"

Syl glared at him. "No. And if you don't stop with the sexual innuendos you won't be for a while either."

When Syl came back from the bathroom and settled back onto Krit's lap, Max decided to ask the question that had been bugging her since her siblings had arrived.

"So why are you here?" Max asked.

"Came to check up on Logan." Was Krit's curt reply.

At Max's confused look, Syl elaborated, "He was pretty messed up just after you 'died'. Sat on that couch for nearly a week, just staring into space."

"He wouldn't do anything." Krit cut in. "Wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't shower, wouldn't talk…"

"He fired Bling when the man tried to force him to get up." Syl continued, unperturbed by Krit's interruption. "He practically ripped our heads off when me 'n' Krit started playing chess, made us put the pieces back exactly where they'd been, something about the last game you two played together. He was really depressed. We took his gun off him more than once during that first month."

Max's concerned eyes turned from her sister to her boyfriend. Logan's eyes were downcast, as if he were ashamed of his actions. He knew how she felt about suicide, but at the time he had felt like he had had nothing left to live for.

"Eyes Only has been pretty quiet lately," Syl continued, "So we wanted to make sure he hadn't succeeded this time."

Max nodded, remembering that the last Eyes Only broadcast had been the one about the Sparacino family, almost three weeks earlier.

"But since I don't see a smoking gun…" Krit smirked and trailed off, leaving the double entrende hanging. Max clouted him over the head at the same time Syl smacked his thigh. He grinned, "Little higher doll-face."

"Don't call me doll-face." Syl snapped.

"Doll-face?" Max queried, "Please explain."

Syl turned away from Krit to face Max. She opened her mouth to speak but Krit beat her to it.

"It's what the customers call her."

Max raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "Customers?"

Syl rolled her eyes, "The customers at the casino where I work. I'm the pit boss at the Hotel Majestic."

"Fitting name for a person as majestic as my kitten here." Krit added, squeezing Syl around the waist.

"You've got your boy all trained up on the art of complimenting." Max commented, and her siblings grinned.

"Yeah but it was hard work." Syl replied, "You'd think that being a Manticore soldier he would've learnt to be more observant."

"Hey!"

* * *

A week later…

"You've been tired all the time, you've been getting headaches, and you got a nosebleed the other day." Original Cindy ticked off the problems Max had been having in the past few weeks, "You even blew up at Alec yesterday for no reason." Max tilted her head to the side as if to say 'So?' and Original Cindy shrugged dismissingly, "Then again, it is Alec."

"Are you ladies talking about me?" Alec made himself known to them and sat down with an excessively happy expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked in a predictable annoyed tone.

"You're hot Max. Is it a crime against red blooded males that we're fatally attracted to beautiful women?" Alec asked as he guilelessly refilled his scotch glass with beer from their pitcher.

"Yes, it is a crime." OC stated, before turning back to Max. "But the man has a point. You do look a bit flushed boo."

"It's just hot in here." Max waved off the concern.

"No it's not," Alec interjected.

"It's just you." OC retorted, then looked at Max's face more closely, "Are you in heat again?"

Max shook her head, "No. That was six weeks ago." Max thought of her last heat and shuddered. _I can't believe I jumped Alec of all people. I'm just glad he was able to control himself…_

FLASH

"Hey Max," Alec greeted Max as he walked up to the table she and Sketchy were sitting at.

"Hey yourself," Max's tone was seductive, and there was a look in her eyes that Alec had only seen in his dreams.

As he opened his mouth to comment on her behaviour, Max launched herself out of her chair and pressed her body against Alec's. She placed a palm on either side of his face and kissed him, taking advantage of his open mouth to snake her tongue into his mouth. For a moment Alec kissed her back, too wrapped up in the fantasy that had come to life to worry about _why_ it had. But then he breathed in through his nose, and smelt her. The pheromones she was radiating were undetectable to ordinaries, but to her fellow Xs they were intoxicating. And despite the fact that his body reacted to her scent, Alec's mind instantly snapped out of the haze.

"Max!" he gasped, turning his head aside and wrenching their lips apart. "What the hell are you doing?"

He sounded shocked, but also frightened, his eyes wide with disbelief as her fingers eagerly worked their way beneath the black sweatshirt he was wearing.

"Max!" He shouted this time, grabbing her wrists and forcing her back. "Quit it! You don't want _me_! You know you don't!"

"You're wrong," Max whispered huskily in his ear, her tongue trailing down the side of his freshly shaved cheek as she attempted to free her wrists from his iron grip. "I _do_ want you, Alec. I need you."

"Max, you're in heat," Alec protested. "You want Logan. You're _in love_ with Logan. Hell, you don't even like me most of the time. Think, damn it! Get a hold of yourself!"

Seeing that Max was too far-gone to properly understand what he was saying, Alec slapped her across the cheek, pulling her out of her hormone-induced daze.

"Oh my god." Max raised her hands to her mouth as she realised what she had been on the verge of doing. "Alec…"

"Max don't." Alec quickly shushed her, ever aware of her alluring scent invading his genetically-enhanced senses. As much as he loved her, he couldn't – wouldn't – allow her to do this; she would never forgive herself. He wouldn't forgive himself either – sure he loved her and would love nothing more than to be with her, but he knew it would never happen – her heart belonged to Logan. And despite what many people thought, Alec was not the type of guy to steal someone else's girl. "Let's just get you home." Controlling his own raging hormones, Alec pushed Max out of Crash and took her to her apartment, where he left her in the capable hands of Original Cindy.

ENDFLASH

_I can't believe she actually kissed me in the middle of Crash,_ Alec thought as he remembered Max's last heat._ Nearly gave the crew of JamPony a floor show, not to mention the fact that currently they think we're together. And as much as I would **love** for the rumors to become reality, it's never gonna happen. Go directly to Jail, probably literally knowing my luck, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. I'm willing to bet that by her next heat she and Logan will have found a cure for the virus, so there'll be no repeat show, and I'm just gonna have to live with that. Speaking of her heat…_

"She won't get her heat for another seven or eight months." Alec broke into the conversation, and both Max and OC looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"You don't go into heat when you're pregnant Max." he replied.

Max stared at him in shock as the ability to speak simply evaded her for several long moments. Alec had taken away her beer and drained it, before she managing to get any audible words out, "I'm…what? How…"

Alec interrupted her in a patronizing tone, "Don't make me explain the birds and the bees to you, Max." Then he turned to Original Cindy and frowned in confusion. "Why do they call 'it' 'the birds and the bees'? The queen bee just sits around and lay eggs and once another queen hatches she'll kill her mother and unborn sisters and then when she finally gets with a mate, she ends up killing him. Not a pretty way to go but-"

It was Max's turn to cut in. "I know _how_. What I wanna know is how _you_ know."

"Your temp's elevated, you've been getting headaches and you're extra tired, not to mention you've been extra bitchy lately." Alec ticked them off on his fingers very matter-of-factly, then took a long drink from his own beer glass.

"And not just to him." OC added helpfully. "I think he's right boo. I mean, when was the last time you slept every night in a week?"

"Oh my god, I have to tell Logan." Max left the table and hurried up the stairs out of Crash. She straddled her bike and steered it towards Logan's penthouse.

* * *

Logan sat at his desk in the computer room, waiting for Max to pick up the phone. _"Hey, the hot peeps are out on the town at the moment, so leave a message and we'll hit ya back."_ Original Cindy's voice came over the line, and Logan hung up.

_She's out…who is she with?_ He wondered.

A week before the temporary cure, Max had been in heat. Had she chosen Alec as his substitute while they couldn't touch? Asha had told him that she had seen them together at Crash, acting very intimate, even kissing one another and leaving together. At the time, he had dismissed the very notion as ludicrous, telling himself that Max's heat made her do things she wouldn't normally do.

But now, sitting alone in his apartment, with only his thoughts to occupy him, he was having doubts again. He didn't appreciate the method in which Alec had chosen to heal his bruised ego from the ring fight. _Alec had no right to interfere with our relationship. Pretending that they were together in front of their workmates…_ Logan questioned whether Alec's motives were purely vengeance. He could see that Alec looked at Max the way Zack used to look at her. Like wanting something you knew you couldn't have.

_The six million dollar question is "who does Max love?"_ She had expressed her love for him, the night they were able to touch, but she hadn't said anything like that since then. The only thing he knew for sure was that the words "we're not like that" had frequently been used to describe their relationship, followed closely by "I'm sorry Logan" everytime there was a close call with the virus. Logan was tired of her apologizing. Apologizing for her mismatched family, apologizing for her friends, apologizing for all the things he loved about her. He could see her in his mind, _"I'm sorry Logan. I can't do this anymore. It's too risky; I might infect you again. And I couldn't live with myself if I was the one who caused your death. It's just better this way."_

Despite his depressing thoughts, an involuntary smile crossed his face when he saw a familiar shadow over his desk.

"Hey strang-"

Max cut him off, "Logan, we need to talk."

"Max, you don't need to say it. I already know." _You've moved on with Alec, and it's for the best because we could never be happy together if we can't touch. You're happy with him. I'll just have to get over you._

"You do? Why didn't you tell me? All this time you've known-"

Now Logan interrupted Max, "As long as you keep coming over."

Max shot him a funny look, "Why wouldn't I want to?" Logan returned her look. "I'm pregnant Logan."

Logan stared at Max, unable to reply.

_How could I have missed the signs…aside from the tiredness and the headaches, my boobs have been really sore lately, and I've had to pee heaps more often than normal. Who'da thought that one night could get us a permanent responsibility? Not to mention the fact that we can't touch. What kind of parents will we be if we can't even touch one another? And what happens if White hears that I'm pregnant, he'll want to find me even more then, I'm sure. And what will happen if I have to fight someone, how can I do that while still protecting my baby? But…for all the reasons why I shouldn't keep this baby…I still want to. It may be the only part of Logan that I'll ever get to touch, because as much as he says that we will find a cure, every lead so far has come to a dead-end…who knows if we'll ever find a cure. And if we don't…not I don't even want to think about that. I couldn't bear it if I was never able to touch him again…speaking of Logan…_

"Logan…please say something." Max pleaded, scared of his reaction.

"Is it mine?" He asked.

Max's face fell, _why does he even need to ask that question? Is he so untrusting?_

Logan took Max's expression as a 'no'. "It's Alec's isn't it? I'm not blind Max, even Asha could see there was something going on between you two."

Now Max was not only disappointed, she was angry. _How dare he? Why would he believe anything Asha says, especially when it comes to me. He **knows** she hates me and my 'furry little friends'._ Feeling tears come to her eyes, Max cursed the hormones that were making her emotional.

"Why did you say you loved me then?" Logan continued, oblivious to Max's feelings, "You said you wanted to be with me, but then you let Alec knock you up. Why don't you just leave then and be with someone who…"

Max raised her hand to slap Logan, but caught herself before her bare palm touched his face. "Don't even _think_ of finishing that sentence." She said, in a dangerous voice. She looked to the ceiling and blinked away the tears in her eyes, before lowering her eyes back to Logan's face. He refused to look into her eyes, instead glaring resolutely at her forehead. "I told you I love you and I meant it. What makes you think I'm gonna sleep with the next guy that comes my way just because we can't touch? What do you think I _am_, some kind of slut?" The fight was quickly draining from Max's voice, and even Logan in his rage could hear the hurt in her voice. "You're the only person I've ever slept with when I wasn't in heat. You wanna know who the father of my child is Logan?" Max waited silently until Logan nodded sheepishly. "It's you Logan. This child growing inside me is ours, yours and mine."

Leaving Logan to digest this information, Max picked up her jacket and exited the penthouse, shutting the door silently on her way out.

Logan knew that for Max not to slam the door, she was beyond pissed. _Oh shit. What have I done now?_

TO BE CONTINUED…

So you think Logan's out of character? I have two words for you – Hello, Goodbye. Logan came to the M/A conclusion even without Asha whispering in his ear, and with no M/A kiss so…

**Roll Call:**

**Kasman:** I (SA) agree with you Kasman, S2 pretty much sucked, especially in the M/L department…but then again we did have Alec…

**toxic honey:** yeah, you guessed it, Max's bike was missing…you're probably gonna hate us again for finishing here, but we've found that cliffhangers get better reviews than nice endings…

**huntress k:** Max didn't forget anything, but she was missing something…sorry about the 2 month wait, probably gonna be even longer before the next one, coz we're coming up to final exams – only 3 months til the exams that could shape our futures…

**Lolly81:** Max isn't dying, she's pregnant…did you guys like how Alec knew but Max didn't? And Max didn't have the motorbike with her – she rides her pushbike to work and leaves her baby at home.

**Misty7, idlehands452, Babyangel 86, maritje, aquaduck:** thanks for the positive feedback, promise this story will continue, even if it's ages between updates…we have a lot planned for the future (and not just for M/L either) and sorry about the lack of updates but a) these chapters are 5000 words, which takes time to write and b) we're both in our last year of high school and have schoolwork commitments…


	4. Immediately Introducing Implicated Inter...

**Immediately Introducing Implicated Interlude**

"Have you seen Max?" Logan asked the table. Two faces turned to him, one dark, one pale.

"She went to see you." Original Cindy replied, unsure of how much he knew.

Logan raked a hand through his hair and sighed. "I mean since then."

Cindy's eyes narrowed. "Why? What did you do to my girl?"

"I messed up everything." Cindy raised her eyebrows, indicating he should continue. Alec looked on unemotionally as Logan heaved in a breath, trying to gather his wits. He knew there was a lecture coming his way, but he was hoping to avoid the overprotective brother talk with Alec. "Max-told-me-she-was-pregnant-I-kinda-accused-her-if-sleeping-with-him-" he indicated Alec, "-behind-my-back-and-asked-her-why-she-said-she-loved-me-if-she-was-gonna-let-someone-else-get-her-pregnant-she-got-angry-and-accused-me-of-calling-her-a-slut-and-said-I-was-the-father-then-she-left." Logan finally took a breath, and looked down at the table while he got his breath back.

Alec had a grim expression, and shook his head. "Are you completely dense, or just that insecure? Why did you do that?"

"Do what? Original Cindy don't understand when you talk so damn fast."

Alec sipped his beer lightly. "Nothing much, he just assumed that I knocked up Max. She said she loved him. He said she snuck around behind his back. She left."

Cindy unleashed fire and brimstone forth onto Logan. "What the hell were you thinking? Which head were you using? Max would never-" She stopped abruptly. The kicked-puppy expression was a tad pathetic on a grown man. "Why are all men so stupid?" She asked him somewhat softer, knowing he was genuinely regretful.

Logan groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "We spent one night together…I didn't think I…And Asha kept telling me about the two of you…" he indicated Alec again, "…And with the virus…I thought she was gonna break up with me."

Cindy looked at Alec. "You think she will?"

"I know she will." Alec replied with the confident arrogance that so often irritated the subject of their cryptic conversation.

Cindy's face was determined as she rose to her feet. She paused and rested her hands on the table, leaning down towards Logan. "Max is in love with only you. She's happy with you. And for a girl like Max, that's extraordinary. Don't take that away from her. This virus has messed with her head, not her heart. Give her time."

Logan watched as Cindy straightened up, then threaded her way through the crowd to the door.

"You're a lucky man Logan." Alec's voice broke through his trance. "Max loves you. Good luck."

"Aren't you going to fight for her?"

"No. She's yours. And as much as I love her, it's a one-way street, and Max will never draw that white line down the middle. You're the only one she'd ever allow to catch her when she falls from the pedestal."

"What pedestal?"

"My one." Alec watched Logan's face as his words sank in. "Asha's quite persistent in claiming you as hers. She'll realise soon enough that you were never hers." He rose from the table. "I'll make sure of it." He murmured.

"Why are you gonna make sure of it?" Logan asked; he had heard Alec's comment.

Alec shrugged, "I'm Max's personal punching bag. When she finds out Asha's been meddling I'm gonna have to stop her doing anything she'll regret. It's gonna hurt."

* * *

"Max."

A statement not a question. The slender woman turned around to face Original Cindy, having heard her friend's quick footsteps down the hallway. She wore a peaceful expression but her normally olive complexion was married with red splotches from tears long since dried.

"Hey Cindy."

Original Cindy rested her hands on her hips, annoyed at her friend's calm pretence. "Don't 'hey Cindy' me, Missy. Logan came by Crash." Her voice softened slightly. "You wanna tell me your side?"

"He asked if the baby was his." Her voice was strangled and she sniffed noisily. "Does he really think so little of me? Wait, don't answer that."

"Wasn't gonna." Cindy waited a beat before asking, "So you're running again?"

"It's what I'm good at isn't it? That's what everyone thinks. Even Alec agrees." She paused, and Cindy decided not to mention to confidence at which Alec had predicted her actions. Max gave a weak grin, knowing the question lingering on her friend's lips. After all, uprooting and running was permanent, and right now, the impression she was giving was that it was pretty permanent; walking out the door, bike and all. "I'll be back, I promise. I just need some space. To sort things out in my head."

"So play hooky tomorrow, and figure things out." Cindy made the suggestion without much hope, knowing that it was an X5 trait to be annoyingly stubborn.

Max shook her head, "I can't do it here, gotta do it somewhere where I have no connections."

Cindy nodded. She knew there was no stopping Max when there was something the girl needed to do. And she would be back. When Max made a promise she made every effort to keep it. The only question was what Max wanted her to tell the people left behind. "So how long does Original Cindy wait before she hauls in the rescue team?"

"Don't tell Logan." Dark brown eyes darted up in panic. "Please. Just-"

"He's gonna figure it out. He ain't stupid. As much as he's doing a damned good impression of it at the moment."

"I need time."

"How long?"

"Two weeks, give me two weeks."

Cindy nodded. "Remember writing is sometimes easier than trying to say what's hard to get out."

Max gave her best friend of seven years a lingering look before turning away.

And then she was gone.

* * *

"We're lost." Syl commented as she looked around in an attempt to find a familiar landmark.

"We're not lost." Krit retorted.

"We're lost."

"Fine."

"Honestly Krit, how difficult can it be to find a completely enclosed city block?" Syl asked as they rounded a corner.

Krit grinned and indicated what lay in front of them; Terminal City. "Not that hard."

* * *

Max didn't know where she was going, but that really wasn't her top priority. The pieces were suddenly being broken apart, torn…like her. She got pulled up and just had to get fucking pushed down again. She was falling and couldn't see anything to grab a hold on. Something to save her. Just when she thought she was in control over everything, something had to happen just to rub in her face that she had control over nothing. That she was hopeless. Pathetic

_I love him damn it._ She knew she couldn't fight it. She couldn't stop feelings from finding their own way inside me. She loved him with everything she had. She had never felt this way for anybody before. _And I'm pregnant for goodness fucking sake. And THAT'S just another reason for me to go._

She kept on riding…she just kept on riding. _I have nowhere to go and no place to stop, so what's the reason for not riding?_ So she just kept on riding. _I'll stop eventually when I need gas._ Without gas the bike wouldn't go anymore so she'd be forced to stop. That would be the only way to stop her. Max's hands were locked in an iron grip around the handlebars. She glanced in the side mirror quickly, and was shocked to find herself unable to recognise the woman staring back at her.

Those eyes weren't hers. They were dark and dull, no sparkle of any sort. Nothing. They were cold and empty. And that scared her, scared her to see such a thing inside her. To see her mask tail her. To see the emptiness she felt inside when she should feel complete, whole. _I should be feeling alive for being in love, for having a person growing inside my body. Instead I'm a reflection that looked like Tinga when she died. When I cradled her blue body to the floor._

Then she felt that burning behind her eyes turn into real tears, which blurred her vision. But she didn't stop riding.

Max wondered when she had lost control over things. When they had escaped her tight grasp. She wiped her eyes with her long sleeved shirt and sniffed. She breathed in and out slowly, getting her breaths back to normal.

Then she kept on riding.

* * *

"Someone's following us." Syl looked around warily.

"Oh honestly Syl -"

Syl cut Krit off, "Shut up Krit." She turned to the darkened area, "Show yourself!" There was no response. "I've got an M16A2 and a Beretta 92SF ready to put more holes in your pretty body."

"And I've got a Colt Cobra and a USMC Extra and I wanna carve another barcode on your body." Krit added.

"Well I've got an Uzi SMG that could just blow you away." A voice came out of the darkness.

Krit and Syl focused their vision and made out the X5 aiming said Uzi at them.

"Ooh are you pulling out the big guns for me?" Syl giggled flirtatiously.

"Syl are you _flirting_ with this asshole?" Krit asked incredulously.

"Not one bit _darling_." Syl deadpanned.

"You're mocking me aren't you?"

"Absolutely." She turned back to the X5, still hidden in shadows. "Can you tell us where the Control Centre is?"

"Preferably without hitting on my girlfriend." Krit put in.

"What's your designation and business?" Came the stern voice.

"We want to meet 494." Krit answered.

"Everyone does." Was the response. "I need a designation."

"His _name_ is Krit." Syl pointed to her left.

"Her _name_ is Syl." Krit pointed to his right.

"I asked for a designation '09ers." The X5 looked mildly annoyed.

"He's 471."

"She's 701." Krit and Syl answered for one another as usual.

"I'll tell him you were here." The X5 motioned for the two of them to leave.

"This is -" Syl began, but the X5 cut her off.

"- transgenic territory."

Syl was now getting irritated. "Are you saying I'm not transgenic?"

"No, I'm saying you need to be approved before entering."

"You can't stop me."

"I'd like to see you try '09er."

Krit saw Syl bristling and knew she was about half a second away from attacking the X5. "Come on." He pulled on her arm, "We'll come back later."

They walked back the way they came, passing a blonde woman.

The X5 guard didn't bother turning around to the hurried footsteps that approach his position. "I thought I told you to piss off."

"I'm hurt, 920, real hurt. Did you really forget your SIC so soon?" The woman faked a hurt voice.

The familiar voice made the man turned around and he saw her pout. "157. I thought you were someone else."

X5-157 gave a half-hearted glance behind her. "You mean the '09ers who just passed me?"

X5-920 grunted an affirmative. "It's good to see you again. You're looking good."

"Yes, considering the amount of training I've missed out while being outside. It's amazing I haven't gotten fat."

"You're looking hotter than ever."

X5-157 rolled her eyes, "Flattery will get you nowhere with me 920, you know that."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you excited 920?" She asked with a saucy smile. "Besides, I've got my eye on someone else."

X5-920 nodded. "They call me Cal."

"Simone."

They turned as one and walked towards the central area.

"Why don't you enlighten me on the developments so far?"

"There has been a significant influx of anomalies and X-series into Terminal City since 494 has declared himself the leader of this clandestine population."

"Is there some way in which I may assist you as your second in command and friend? Perhaps I can organize the housing of these new inhabitants?"

"Thank you, for offering your time and dedication into this matter. However several members of 494's unit have already undertaken this task. It would not do well to tread on their toes as a relative newcomer."

"Of course. I harbor no hard feelings. I understand the complexity with which our people function as a society and I accept your decision in this matter."

"There is, however, another task in which I am interested in discussing with you. May I know the location of your lodging so that communication between you and myself will not be too difficult?"

"Would it be an acceptable alternative if I gave you a contact number as I am still finding permanent accommodation?"

Several transgenics had tuned into the conversation, however Cal and Simone ignored the darting looks their way.

"Yes. I find that suitable. However, may I suggest that if you are unsuccessful in your search, that you take my offer of housing within this community?"

"For how much longer do the pair of you intend to converse in this obscene manner?" Hart cut in, "It is becoming increasingly humiliating for others to approach this area of the compound. If you wish to continue your dialogue, I must insist that you take it inside headquarters so that the other commanders may be thoroughly horrified at you atrocious behavior. I anticipate hearing the harsh reprimand your actions deserve. I will be inwardly pleased if, so they desire, their final judgment will also consist of severe punishment." He finished with a wry smile.

"You are such an idiot." Simone responded. "How-"

* * *

"-did you think she was going to react?" Syl exclaimed when Logan told them what had transpired between him and Max.

"I know." Logan replied solemnly, "I need to find her."

"You won't find her unless she wants to be found," Krit put in, which earned him a glare from Syl and a sigh from Logan.

"You are really not helping the-"

* * *

"-situation. Cops are getting antsy. Food's running out." Onyx switched into French and let out a rapid string of words that sounded like ramblings, until someone coughed politely.

"In English pal, so we can all enjoy it." Mole set his rifle heavily on Onyx's shoulder.

"Bloody Anomalies," the X5 muttered under his breath, "almost as useless as-"

* * *

"-ordinaries and your freakin' soap operas. Why would she say she loves you then go and a breed with someone else?" Syl asked.

"Okay, can we not say breed, you know? She's not a horse." Logan replied.

"Never know." Krit interjected, "She could have some horse DNA in her-"

* * *

"-cocktail." Everyone stared at the hyperactive X6, York. "What? Don't we have money allocated for alcohol?"

Cal shook his head, debating whether to be amused or disgusted. "Not enough for the expensive fancy shit. You're a freaking lightweight."

Cece laughed, "Haven't you heard? Andor and Trent have set up their own brewery."

"Damn those insolent little shits and their high-proof booze. There's enough trouble with keeping off the radar already, no need to add drunk transgenics to the circus. Ever since Eyes-"

* * *

"-Only? Why haven't you been doing any cable hacks lately?" Syl asked, outlining Logan's keyboard with a finger.

"Bet I know why." Krit snickered, "He's been having dates with the palm sisters after Max leaves each night." He shook a finger at Logan, "Tsk tsk. And you accuse Max of cheating on you."

Syl turned away from Logan's desk to stare at Krit. Logan watched, amused, as Krit stared defiantly back at her, waiting for the inevitable yelling.

But it never came.

Syl merely stared at her boyfriend for a long thirty seconds before turning back towards Logan, who was sitting at his desk. Behind her, Krit visibly relaxed, and it was then that Syl kicked out behind her, catching him in the shin.

"Oww!" He clutched his leg and glared at Syl's back, "You really need anger management-"

* * *

"-classes. You know; diagnostic and repair, recon, tactics, search and rescue, field med, sex ed-"

"Sex ed?" Simone interrupted.

"DNA can be a fickle thing." Cal replied.

"Fickle?" Cece interjected, "Try plain nasty. Especially the urges."

"At least most of the younger ones don't have much canine DNA."

"Doesn't stop this bunch from acting like dogs most of the time." Cece indicated the surrounding transgenics, most of whom were male.

"They think with a different head in the real world." Simone agreed.

"Didn't know any Manticore creations had two heads." Biggs looked genuinely confused as he walked up to them and stood behind his mate.

Cece smiled up at him, "There isn't much brain power separating you and Chopin."

Simone looked surprised, "I didn't know you switched to composers."

"How did you know what they call it?" Cal asked.

Cece glared at both Cal and Simone before fixing her eyes on Biggs. "Explain. Now."

"Sweetheart…honey…darling…" his voice was sickly sweet but everyone in the room knew he meant it, "You know you're the only one for me."

"Keep going." Cece's expression didn't change.

Biggs took a breath, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day/Thou art more lovely and more temperate/Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May/And summer's lease hath all too short a date/Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines/And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;/And every fair from fair sometime declines-"

* * *

"By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;/But thy eternal summer shall not fade/Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;/Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade/When in eternal lines to time thou growest;/So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." Krit finished.

"And?" Syl asked, raising an eyebrow.

Krit's shoulders slumped, "And I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. Wherever that happens to be."

Syl smiled, "Got it in one. And without any hints too." She sounded vaguely impressed.

"Speaking of sleeping…" Logan broke in, off Krit's smirk he added, "I wasn't going there."

"How many rooms are there?" Krit asked, eyes roaming the penthouse.

"Uh, abou-"

"Great, and you're the only one living here right?"

"Yes…"

"Wonderful. We'll be out of your way now. Come on Syl, let's find our room." Krit grabbed Syl's hand and attempted to move out of the living room, but she resisted.

"Your room is right here. On the couch."

"If you'd just let me offer first." Logan finally finished a sentence. "You're welcome to stay."

* * *

Alec was having an awful day. Not the awful I-woke-up-and-ran-out-of-coffee bad day variety, but the-whole-universe-is-plotting-against-me type of Bad Day. And it was not improving.

Life was Officially Boring.

Why?

Because Max left.

Why?

Because Max always ran when things got tough. And she left without saying goodbye to him and he was perfectly fine with that. He was. Mostly. Vaguely. Not Really. Not one bit.

It hurt.

There he admitted it. Then why wasn't he feeling any better?

Alec glared and kicked the ground again with more force. Ouch. He wished he had worn his steel-capped boots this morning instead of his old sneakers. He sighed, then stopped abruptly when he realised what he was doing.

There was this feeling of insignificance that loomed over his head. It was a familiar emotion he felt when he was around Max.

Alec hissed in anger. Then he smiled because he sounded like a cat and it amused him. Just barely. And right now he needed to have distractions, considering life without Max was busy but monotonous.

Only two day without Max, and Alec's life now solely revolved around Jam Pony and Terminal City. There seemed to be an endless amount of work to be completed with every new transgenic coming into the City, but there also seemed to be a diminishing amount of people able to carry out his orders. It wasn't true of course, but on a day like today, Alec felt the irrational need to vent.

Maybe he'd even blow off the extra money of a late Jam Pony shift and meet a few new people in TC. He might even meet a skinny X6 that named himself Butch or some of the ones who had named themselves after a variety of food snacks. Hmm.

It was amusing, to try and figure out the reasons behind a particular name. There was always a story. When he first met Max back at Manticore, he had no idea of her determination for naming people. He had come out of that experience as Smart Alec.

Now seven months out into the world, Alec found he preferred, to some extent that they had names as well as designations to refer to. It made it easier for them to blend in with the Ordinary community when given the need.

And it gave them all something to do. So he encouraged the Naming Ritual among the transgenic.

Max would be so proud.

And he was back to thinking about the source of his Bad Day.

_

* * *

_

She left. Max actually left. I guess this puts me in the same category as Manticore and White. I chased her away.

Logan moved aimlessly around his apartment in his wheelchair. He had no interest in walking if Max wasn't there to see.

In his insecurity, he had idiotically accused Max of cheating on him with Alec.

_'What do you think I **am**, some kind of slut?'_ Her words came back to haunt him.

_'Ours. Yours and mine.'_

_'I loved you.'_

He wanted to blame his actions on alcohol, but it was his belief in Asha's words that had driven the wedge between him and Max.

_'You deserve better than someone who will cheat on you the moment you're not around.'_

The honest-sounding words only intensified the fear that has steadily developed in his mind since his unintentional meeting with an extraordinary woman. The fear that he would, one day, be inadequate for Max. _How could a genetically enhanced superwoman ever be satisfied with me? I'm half a man._

The apartment was silent except for the low hum of his computers – which he couldn't work on without thinking of all the times Max had read information over his shoulder. He no longer had visitors. No Max translated to no transgenics needing him.

And Asha no longer came to visit him either. The day after Max left, Logan had been despondently remembering all the times Max had arrived unannounced, and when the door opened he looked up hopefully. Asha's unwelcome appearance turned his depression into irritation. However Asha's characteristic dark cloud of pessimism had dispersed to a somewhat lighter haze of optimism when Logan told her of Max's abrupt departure. This sparked a memory of Alec's words the night Max left: _'__Asha's quite persistent in claiming you as hers.' _To put it mildly, Logan hadn't taken kindly to the fact that his friend wanted to take this opportunity to fulfil her own happiness.

_'Have you really sunk so low? Did you really think that we'd still be friends after the all the lies you've spread about Max? Would that convince me to like you as something more than a friend?'_

Asha had protested vehemently, but Logan had been relentless in his accusation, having finally found someone other than himself on which to lay the blame for Max's disappearing act. She had left in a huff and wisely laid low ever since.

Four days later and he was still sitting alone in his apartment. The beep indicating an incoming email echoed throughout the empty space, and Logan turned back to the computer with a sigh.

* * *

Men. Dogs. There was no difference. Especially when it came to Max's two puppies, Logan and Alec.

After eight days of silence on the Max front, Original Cindy was very tempted to blurt out to everyone concerned that this fine chick knew very little behind Max's latest disappearance.

Alec had withdrawn further into himself. He kept a slight but noticeable distance between himself and Max's friends, conversing only with other Jam Pony employees that OC presumed to be transgenics. Spent less time at Crash and more time out on runs by himself.

Meanwhile Logan appeared to be convincing himself, impressing on all who would listen, that Max would be back, while still full of self doubt about their relationship.

Asha was no blonde bimbo. Like everyone else, she knew that Logan was particularly insecure in his tenuous relationship with Max and intentionally played on his fears. The realities of his medical condition had made the poor man believe his overactive imagination. Not only believe it, but also causing him to say boldly to her face that she lied about loving him.

If there was one thing OC knew – not that she knew only one thing – it was how much Max loved Logan.

Alec gave his true opinion about the whole thing once, on that rare occasion he had stopped playing his masquerade long enough for them to carry out a meaningful conversation. And he explained Max's thinking in a style that, frankly, Original Cindy found it kind of freaky. The way he understood and accepted why Max always wanted to be in control of everything, how she found it hard to show affection and love to the ones she cared about and why she was afraid to commit. It was a behaviour common among transgenics. OC suspected that Logan had seen this quazi-bond between the two transgenics and it formed part of the reason why he thought Max and Alec were having an affair.

But there was no halo on her girl either. Max had done nothing to reassure him that she returned his feelings. She had let things stew over in Logan's head for too long by not saying the words 'I love you' after the night of the temporary cure.

_You don't know much about relationships, suga. You gotta continually remind them how you feel, 'specially the three legged gender._

However much she disliked Puppy Logan for upsetting her sista, she understood, if only to a certain extent, why he had accused Max of running around his back.

Pretty Boy was equally pathetic and easy to manipulate when it came to Max. Whatever she said was the Law in his books. Never wrong and never questioned. And Alec would never make Max choose between himself and her new squeeze 'cause he knew that when push came to shove, he didn't stand a chance. Max would forget him like yesterday's trash.

She didn't much like the position Max had put her in. As a result, she was snappish to everyone. She hoped Max would realise how lucky she was to have such loyal and devoted friends.

* * *

Syl walked through the side entrance of Jam Pony and headed for the locker area where she could hear Sketchy complaining to Original Cindy.

Cece fell into step beside her. "Hey."

"Hey." Syl replied, as they came into ordinary-earshot of the locker area.

"…Max always came with me when I got a run in Rydin' Forties turf so I'd get paid as well."

"What's wrong Sketchy?" Syl asked in a condescending tone.

Sketchy, being Sketchy, didn't notice that Syl was talking to him like one would speak to a three-year-old, and continued to whinge. "Normal's Golden Boy, and _your_ boyfriend-" he nodded at Cece, "-keep taking runs off me."

"Original Cindy thought you said you were allergic to yellow tape." OC commented.

"Didn't you ask them to take the runs?" A smile played on Cece's lips.

"But Max used to come _with_ me." Sketchy explained, still using the three-year-old tone that had prompted Syl's motherly one.

"Poor baby, do you miss her?" OC remarked with a smirk.

"Not as much as you do." Sketchy's uncharacteristically sharp response put OC at a momentary loss for words.

"I bet not as much as Logan," Syl commented in the relative silence. "He's probably spent more time pining after Max than the both of you put together."

There was a pause while the other three took in the comment, nodding their assent.

"Speaking of bets, how many people are still in contention?" Cece spoke up.

"What pool?" OC and Sketchy asked in unison.

"There's a bet that's been going around-" Syl cut herself short at the quick jerk of OC's thumb towards Sketchy. "-just going around, about how long it's gonna be before Max comes back." She turned her head towards Cece, "The only ones left are me, Hart, and the people who think she'll never come back. Not that they could ever claim their money…" She trailed off.

"So when did you bet?" Cece asked.

"Eleven days. So if Max comes back tomorrow, the pot's mine!"

"Who bet on ten days?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Again, sorry for the **LONG** wait, but school's a bitch, and it's gonna keep being bitchy, so very positive there won't be another chapter out until at least end of November, if not December. And a note to all beginner-writers, don't try and write fanfic while stressing about exams. That's how we came up with the random scene cuts in the middle of this chapter…doesn't mean a whole lot, aside from giving you guys some more Syl/Krit banter and letting you meet a few new transgenics…but it did relieve us of some stress. The random title alliteration can be blamed on MissBehaving, who had to be restrained from making it even longer and less coherent.

**Roll Call (by SA):**

**intodust, Black Rose9:** thanks for the comments about keeping true to the characters, we try our very best to do so while still making them do what we want them to do…

**idlehands452:** Max handled the accusation better than I would've too, but then again I probably would have pummeled the guy to the ground and if Max does that she'll kill Logan so she's gotta settle for words…

**M/L Only:** yeah, Logan has learnt to share his feelings, but now Max's gotta learn to do the same…we're actually looking for a creative way for her to do so, anyone got any ideas?

**Alexandra Bruderlin:** wow, such high praise from arguably the best S/K writer out there. Thanks, the random S/K banter in this chap is for you.

**Babyangel86:** thanks for the praise, and never fear, Alec will _never_ stay with Max in any of my stories, even if they're together to start with…not that I'm planning any like that…and he will get his own chick soon, but he has to figure out his feelings for Max before anyone serious comes along. And yes, I have been influenced by other people's work, but I made sure it wasn't exactly that same – Logan's reaction was focused on one person rather than anyone like in Mystic's story, and as for the S/K thing, just about every story I've read that includes S/K has them together – barring Mystic's Choices that is – and I think that's coz they're so fun to write!

**maritje:** OC was gonna go ghetto on Logan, but he looked so upset with himself that she just couldn't do it. Also she had to attempt to prevent Max from leaving (which obviously didn't work…) And no, we're not from the US, we're from Australia, and we're just finishing our last year at high school – finals are in October/November, so we won't be writing much til after they're over.

**bitterlullabies:** Max will forgive him, eventually…and as for the cure, thanks for reminding us! We are gonna cure it eventually, but you're right, in the meantime we should have them looking for a cure…About the other stuff to explore – that's kinda the point! We've added some more stuff in this chapter that will be explored later, mainly stuff on TC and some new transgenics…

**maggieann452:** thanks for the positive feedback.


	5. 3 Days, SIC, 18 Weeks, 35, 100, 1st Date

**3 Days, SIC, 18 Weeks, 3.5, 100, 1st Date**

WHERE WE LEFT OFF…

"So when did you bet?" Cece asked.

"Eleven days. So if Max comes back tomorrow, the pot's mine!"

"So, uh, who bet on ten days?"

* * *

"Max? Max!" Cece was currently the only one with the ability to speak.

"Hey guys, it's me." Max smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Max!" Original Cindy, apparently having regained her voice, flung herself at her friend.

"You're back!" Sketchy's exclamation was a fraction of a second later than OC's, and his actions were the same; joining OC in a three-way hug.

"Yeah, I'm back, but uh, breathing room would be greatly appreciated because if you two keep squishing me I'll be dead before we can all celebrate." Max smiled brightly at her friends and detached herself from Sketchy.

OC released her gently, leaving her free to greet the others.

"Cece," Max purposely ignored Cece's other half, who had recently joined the group. "Hey big sister." She said softly, bumping Syl's shoulder.

"Maxie." Syl said simply, hugging her with one arm, "there's two types of real worlds; the escape-and-evade real world and the stay-and-talk-about-it real world."

Biggs, Cece and Hart coughed simultaneously and Syl stopped talking and folded her hands.

Sketchy looked at their somber faces. "Wait, am I missing something here?"

"Fool, you missing a lot of things around here. And that includes most of the gray squishy thing s'posed to be between your ears."

"'A one-night-stand that keeps repeating'. Syl!" Max sounded a tad hysterical.

"It doesn't matter how you define the relationship, Maxie. Krit 'n' I've talked, when problems arise." At Max's skeptical look Syl conceded, "So most of the time we fight it out and have great makeup sex afterwards, but the point is; these problems aren't getting ghost by you running."

"It's not like we can find an abandoned warehouse and duke it out." Max replied .

"So talk. Tell him how you feel, tell him you're confused, tell him your fears and troubles or you'll never last in a long-term relationship, with an ordinary or otherwise." Syl continued, unruffled by Max's interruption. "And here there are _way_ too many ears that shouldn't be hearing this conversation, so let's go somewhere more private." Syl turned to OC, who nodded, then pulled Max out of Jam Pony.

Normal noticed the two of them leave and called after Max, "Don't think you can just come back tomorrow Missy Miss! You can't just up and leave for two weeks and expect your job to still be here when you get back!"

"First of all Normal," OC went to bat for her boo, Cece, Biggs and Sketchy behind her as backup, "She was gone ten days, not two weeks, which technic'ly means she's missed seven working days. Second of all, she had to leave, she had a medical emergency."

"Oh yeah? And what kind of emergency was it this time? Another transplant? An operation? Or – here's a good one – she's pregnant with some other ingrate's child?"

All four were quiet; the girls because Normal had unwittingly hit the nail on the head and the boys because they couldn't think of another argument.

"What's going on guys?" Syl's voice broke through the silence.

OC and Cece looked confused to see Syl standing there alone. "Where's my boo? Thought you guys were gonna talk."

Syl shrugged, "Bailed on me as soon as we got outta the building. Don't think she's ready to talk yet. Makes you wonder why she came back if she ain't figured out all her issues yet."

* * *

Today Original Cindy was Officially Bored.

Not that work wasn't always boring, but her friends had always made things a little less monotonous.

But now Max was fully occupied with the confusion of Longterm Relationships.

This in itself was not necessarily a Bad Thing but it made her best friend a lot less interesting. Sure, the place had become a little quieter during the past three days, and Alec had a lot fewer bruises to show for it, BUT Logan's temporary blindness to Max's mental state was becoming a bit of a worry. Not that she usually cared one whit or the other about the man, or the male species in general, but her boo _did_, and that meant something to her. As Max's best friend, she took her role very seriously (much more seriously that she _ever_ took her job), and Max's stubbornness was getting on even _her_ nerves.

"You love him, Max. He's the father of your child. Remember it? B.A.B.Y. He loves you! Pick up the phone and talk to him already!"

Max's relationship with Logan was also doing horrible things to OC's social life. Not only did Max refuse to accompany her to Crash, her concern for her friend was bleeding into her love life; honeys didn't want to hear about heterosexual problems. And every time Max caught Alec with yet another random girl her eyes grew dimmer. It didn't help the fact that Alec had apparently gone through the entire blonde population of Seattle, and was now moving onto the brunettes.

And things were _boring_. OC had never thought she might actually miss Alec's teasing and taunting, but now that Max didn't respond to anyone with a y-chromosome he had given up trying to get her attention, and she was starting to miss the familiar insults the pair used to exchange on a daily basis. The lack of interesting/challenging/slightly-more-than-completely-dull verbal sparring matches was getting to OC, and the rest of the Jam Pony crew.

In fact, if OC didn't know that Max was mooning over a boy, she would have been sure her friend had switched teams.

The days had been getting increasingly more boring, the honeys had been getting increasingly more scarce, and her best friend had been getting increasingly _less_ interested in anything other than sulking.

* * *

A few days after Max had run away from that unfinished conversation with her sister, she found herself sitting in a café a few blocks away from Jam Pony on her break.

"Just because you fell behind on that run when you were four doesn't mean you give up." Syl said as she and Max sipping their overpriced coffees.

"It's just…I'm not great at the talking thing, as you know, and especially with not being able to touch him either…it's hard to show him how I feel about him. I can't help being scared that everytime I see him it could be the last time…I have people looking to kill me, and a single touch means instant death for him, not to mention all his enemies on account of him being…you know." Max abruptly cut off the end of her sentence when she realised where she was.

"It's always true – the seeing him for the last time thing – even if you guys weren't who you were. You never know, the world could end tomorrow and we'd all be dead."

"Thanks Syl, you're really helping cheer a girl up." Max rolled her mug in between her hands, enjoying the warmth that seeped through the chipped ceramic.

"I know it's hard to tell him what you feel, we weren't exactly encouraged to express our emotions while growing up – verbally or otherwise." Syl chose her words carefully to avoid ordinaries hearing things they shouldn't.

"'The perfect soldier is unemotional and unaffected by the emotions of others'." Max quoted Lydecker in the same impassive tone he had always used.

"We're not soldiers, and we're far from perfect." Syl answered, speaking as if the man himself was sitting at the table with them. "Men are even further from perfect. Never put the toilet seat down, never make the bed, never hang their towels up…" She trailed off her rant at the sight of Max's upset face, realising that her baby sister had never experienced the trials and tribulations of living with a member of the opposite sex. "Anyway, the point is; you gotta keep reminding them how you feel. Cindy told me you've only told him that you love him once."

"I tell him everytime he tells me!" Max retorted.

"Do you?" Was Syl's reply, and Max had to think. "When was the last time you actually said the words 'I love you'?" Max couldn't reply. "Exactly. I know it's easy to say the not-touching thing doesn't matter, especially when you can touch, but it ain't so easy in practice. So you gotta show him in other ways – especially verbally. And now this baby thing…you're absolutely positive you're pregnant?"

"Um…pretty sure. Alec listed off the symptoms, and added to the symptoms that only I knew about, it's a pretty positive conclusion."

"But you haven't taken a test or seen a doctor?"

"I took a test while I was…away. Positive."

"Kay, then now you need to find a doctor you can trust to know about your…special needs. Despite our medical training even we can't deliver our own children, nor can we monitor them without the right equipment."

Max stared at Syl, a strange look on her face. "And how do you know all about this?"

Syl shrugged, "I was there when Case was born." Max continued staring. "OK! I'm pregnant."

* * *

"Hey Cal." Alec said to the X5 as he walked through the gates of Terminal City.

"Sir." Cal nodded.

"What's the good word?"

"Officially, sixty percent of all controlled structures have been connected to generators but only thirty percent have a sufficient supply of gas to power internal appliances through the night."

"More gas. Next."

"On the latest census, thirty percent of all residents are specific operational units. The X-series is still expanding at a rapid rate while their cold shoulder towards the X7s has turned into cold fists. The population of X7s is on the decline."

"Separate X7s from other Xs. Next."

"Food."

"What about food?"

"Exactly. There isn't enough, people aren't pulling their weight. We need to get more Xs working in paid jobs."

"Bread. That's it?"

"Yeah. Unofficially, 157 is back."

"Your SIC?"

"I want you two to meet." To Alec's back he called out. "I think you'll like her."

"Bintz! Meds?"

"I don't like the tone of your voice, _4_." The feisty blonde X5 replied at Alec's command.

"And I don't like you calling me that, 251." She just glared at him. "What's the situation with our medical supplies?" He asked in a much nicer tone as the two walked toward the infirmary.

CeCe and Biggs came up beside Cal. "I don't remember 494 being so…" Cal trailed off.

"Uptight?" Biggs asked and all three X5s nodded in unison.

"Alec's become unbearable lately. He's all about work work work." Cece commented.

"Cause otherwise it'd all be about sex sex sex." Biggs replied.

CeCe rolled her eyes, "I'm beginning to think that might be an improvement."

* * *

"You're pregnant? For real?"

"'S what I said. I'm not speaking Swedish, am I? I certainly hope not, because I never learned it."

"It's Krit's baby, right?"

"Yeah. You should have seen him when I took the test,"

FLASHBACK

When the second hand on Syl's watch hit the minute mark Krit jumped up jubilantly, "My turn, my turn!" He took one of the test sticks from the cup they sat in on the edge of the sink. Syl put her hand over her eyes and shook her head.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into letting you use one of those for yourself." She said and rubbed her eyes stifling a laugh.

"Hey! I said I wanted to do this together…both of us feeling the same anticipation?" Syl just looked at him, "…okay I just felt left out." He admitted, slowly picking up his stick and matching it to the box.

Syl shook her head again, but decided to humor him and play along. She watched him swing his eyes back and forth between the box and the stick.

"Well, _honey_, what's it say?" She asked, rolling her eyes and glancing at her watch to note that she still had another minute before HER test was done.

Krit slumped his shoulders sadly. He threw the test in the trash dramatically and turned to face Syl, wiping his eyes playfully. "I thought it took this time…I guess it was too much to hope for." He said, coming to sit next to her on the tub edge. He laid his head on her shoulder. She patted it gently then smacked him once hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" He whined, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"For being a drama queen." She replied simply, getting up to check her test.

"I don't need to be a queen, I've already got mine." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and leaned his chin on her shoulder.

Despite the over sappiness of his statement she smiled and leaned back against him, "Then be ready, Good Sir, we're going to bring a prince or princess into this world in about eight months."

ENDFLASHBACK

Max chuckled at Krit's hijinks, but Syl could see the sadness in her eyes; she couldn't celebrate the moment with Logan, at least not in the same way.

"You guys are gonna get through this." Syl said, covering Max's hand. "You need to forgive him, and you need to let him know that you've forgiven him and that you love him."

Max smiled slowly. "Yeah…I guess. So how far along are you? You can't be that much ahead of me, if no-one can tell you're pregnant." She looked down at Syl's abdomen.

"Eighteen weeks. As for people not being able to tell; Logan and Biggs figured it out. I am showing, just not much." She pulled her t-shirt tight around her waist and Max was able to see the slight paunch in her sister's normally flat stomach.

* * *

_knock knock_

Original Cindy opened the door to find Logan standing behind it. She gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that he had been trying to call Max for the past four days, and had received nothing but hang-ups on the rare occasions Max actually answered the phone. Ushering him inside, OC pointed to the couch, where Max was sitting, staring off into space.

Logan walked toward her, and OC slipped quietly into her room to give the two some privacy.

"Max." Logan spoke softly, almost as if he were afraid of disturbing the silence.

No reaction.

"Max?"

"She won't answer you." Came OC's voice from behind her curtain. "She ain't responding to any of the three-legged gender, so it ain't just that she's still pissed as hell 'bout what you said. I'm pretty sure she'll at least listen to you though."

Logan nodded, then realised OC couldn't see him, "Thanks Cindy." He turned back to Max, whose eyes had moved from the wall and were now looking straight through him. Pulling up a chair from the kitchen counter, Logan took a deep breath and began his apology. "Max I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I'm sorry I made you cry. It makes me sick to think that I'm the reason you were crying. I know there's no excuse for what I said or did, but I have got a couple of reasons that at least partially explain my thinking at the time." Pausing to think about what to say next, Logan snuck a look into Max's eyes. They were a little less vacant than they had been 5 minutes prior, and he filled with hope that maybe his words were getting through to her.

"Max, I know that the only thing between you and Alec is friendship. Alec explained everything to me, and I now understand where Asha got the misguided notion that you two were together." At the mention of Asha's name Max's eyes cleared and narrowed. Logan saw the change and hastened to continue before Max went on a murderous mission. "She had somehow convinced herself that I'd want her if I thought you and Alec were together – I corrected her on that by the way – and was twisting yours and Alec's friendship into something it wasn't. When she showed up – unannounced – the day after you left I lost it; I told her that I wanted nothing but friendship and a business partnership with her, and that if she couldn't deal with that then I could just as easily live without her. It's you I can't live without. I love you so much Max, and I'm so sorry for everything." Logan stopped for breath, watching Max's reaction closely, surprised that there actually was one after what OC had told him.

Max exhaled loudly and blinked, her eyes softening slightly though Logan could still see the hurt in them. He opened his mouth to continue, but was stopped by Max's voice, so soft he could barley understand the words.

"What was the second reason?" She asked, looking into his eyes for a brief moment, before going back to staring over his shoulder.

"The chair." He admitted. "I know I'm currently walking around most of the time, but that's dure to the exo, not because my spine miraculously fixed itself. And I know you know that, but…Max, did you know that only 1 in 10 paralysed men ejaculate during sex? I'm part of that 10, but an even smaller percentage are able to conceive naturally. When I first got shot Sam told me that I'd probably never be able to father children naturally. With your blood transfusion the percentage went up slightly, but it's still not high; about 3.5." Logan's voice was clinical during this explanation, and Max could see how painful it was to share this kind of information with anyone, her especially.

"Logan." Max said, her voice at normal volume now. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Can you ever forgive me?" Logan asked, looking at her with pleading eyes. "I know it was stupid to think that you'd do something like that, and if I'd been thinking rationally I know that you wouldn't see anyone behind my back, but it was just…Asha with her conclusions…and Sam and his diagnosis…"

"Logan. It's OK." Max said, getting up from the couch. She went over to him and laid her hands on his gloved ones, careful not to touch the band of skin between his glove and his shirt. "I forgive you. And I love you." Her words were carefully chosen, and Logan cursed himself for putting this measure of caution into her communication with him.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

"I know when this kid makes his or her appearance, we're going to know it's yours because I bet you that he or she will have your blue eyes."

He chuckled, but shook his head. "No, he or she will have your gorgeous deep brown eyes." They leaned closer to one another, foreheads almost touching.

"Doncha know that almost all babies are born with blue eyes Roller Boy?" OC commented, breaking Max and Logan out of their romantic moment.

They hastily pulled away from one another, remembering that even though they had created a child together, they still couldn't touch.

"Congratulations both of you. And Logan," Logan looked up at OC, who was giving him her most threatening glare, "If you ever hurt my boo in any way I'll put the smackdown on your ass." She wasn't happy to see that Logan was amused by her comment. "I mean it!"

Putting his hands up in surrender, Logan explained his amusement, "I know you would, and I would deserve it, but if I ever hurt Max I'd have half the population of transgenics gunning for me, not to mention that Max would probably beat me up before anyone else got the chance to." OC thought about his words for a second, before nodding her ascent. "But then again, we don't really have to worry about that, because I don't plan on hurting Max in any way, shape or form."

"You two do realise that I am standing right here." Max commented, "But if you'd like to continue this conversation I could step outside for a while." She motioned to the door.

"Nah, you can stay boo, we're done."

* * *

"C'mon Logan," Alec asked, standing by the pool table at Crash later that night. "I'll bet you 100 bucks you can't beat me again."

Max grinned, "You really wanna lose 100 bucks?"

Alec smirked back, "Who said I'm gonna lose?"

A female voice came from behind Alec, "I'll play…"

Alec cut her off before she finished, "Great. Lemme rack 'em."

"…against him." The girl pointed at Logan and Alec's grin dropped. "So what do ya say, cutie?" She asked him coyly.

Logan shrugged, "Why not?" He got up from his seat beside Max, stroking her denim-covered arm as he moved away from the table. "What's your name?" He asked as he approached the young woman.

"Simone." She replied, "What's yours?"

"Logan." Max coughed loudly. "This is Max." Logan finished, indicating the X5.

Simone barely glanced at Max, too busy looking Logan up and down. "I only needed to know your name." She replied flirtatiously.

_Why didn't he say I was his girlfriend? Pregnant girlfriend, too. _Max made a growling noise deep in her throat and stood up, intent on going over to the pool table and staking her claim, but Original Cindy held her back as Logan made his first shot, sinking two balls.

"Calm down girl. You can see your boy ain't interested." The two of them looked back toward the table, where Logan was surveying balls, completely ignoring Simone, who was openly checking him out.

"Yeah, but _she's_ interested. She's practically undressing him with her eyes. Nobody hits on my man and gets away with it." Max replied possessively.

"Just wait 'til he whips her…" OC trailed off when she noticed Max's glare, "…wait 'til he beats her, then you can let her know who's boss."

Max nodded and settled back into her seat. They looked at this new arrival; she was quite short, only about 5'3", but the sheer power projected in her stance seemed to make up for it. Light brown/blonde hair was swept up into a short pony tail. Her eyes were a pale blue colour, and her skin was flawless, almost too flawless for Max's liking. Her clothing was similar to Max's – a long sleeved royal purple top with faded blue hipster jeans and black boots.

Alec sat in his seat beside Biggs and checked out the stranger. "Why do all the hot ones go after Logan?" He lamented to Biggs and Cece, "Max, Asha, now this one. What is it about that guy?"

"The glasses." Biggs returned deadpan. "Or maybe it's the scruffy beard."

"It's the cute butt." Cece said decisively with too straight a face for either of the guy's liking.

"Hey!" Biggs retorted.

Cece smiled and pinched Biggs' buttocks. "But not as cute as yours."

"You're going to pay for that tonight," he warned.

"Looking forward to it."

Meanwhile Logan was cleaning up the table. He had two balls plus the eight ball left. Aiming, he looked up to reassure Max, but lost his concentration and missed the shot. Simone got her cue ready, then aimed and shot, sinking three balls.

"Hey, she's good." Max was surprised. Simone took another shot with her back to Max and OC. As she leaned over the table her hair that previously covered her neck shifted to the side and both women glimpsed a few broken lines that were beginning to form on the back of her neck – a barcode. Max's eyes narrowed, "Too good for an ordinary."

OC snorted, "And what's your boy then, an alien?"

Max grinned at OC, "He practically went to college on a pool scholarship. But her…" Max looked around to make sure no-one was listening that shouldn't have been, "she's X5."

The two women watched as Simone performed the 'jump shot' that Logan had performed against Alec, sinking her last ball, then sank the eight ball easily.

"I believe that's game." Simone said, giving the cue to a stunned Logan. "Keep the cash. I don't need it. Maybe we can play again sometime." She added.

Max intercepted the blonde woman's escape. "Hey, let's take a walk this way." They moved away, from the back room and towards the bar. "Your barcode's showing again."

"Damn, I knew it was shoddy job. Thanks Max."

"You know I'm an oh-niner then. Good." If Max's voice had been any colder she would have been breathing frost. "So get this: Logan's mine. So don't even think…"

Simone cut Max off with a wave of her hand, "Don't worry. I'm only trying to make the cute one over there jealous." She pointed at Alec. "X5-494. The ultimate prize. Do you know how many girls were upset that he got paired with you for the breeding program? Anyway, I've found that jealousy works sooo much better than playing hard-to-get."

Max blinked. "You don't think Logan's cute?"

Simone smiled, "Oh he's cute. But he's your flavour, this one's mine."

Alec appeared behind Max, looking through her to Simone. "Max." He spoke to Max without looking away from the new object of his desire.

"Yeah?" Max replied, not looking at him either.

"Scram."

"No."

"Please?"

"Fine." Max smiled apologetically at Simone and turned to leave, patting Alec on the head like one would with a small child. "All yours."

"Hmm." Alec finally tore his eyes away to watch Max's ass as she walking away. He turned back to Simone when someone blocked his view. "Hi." He leaned on the bar in an attempt to appear casual.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Simone."

"Alec."

"Cute."

"Thank you."

"I meant your name."

"Thank you too."

"And unattached?"

"Currently."

"Likewise."

"Surprising."

"Hmm."

"Interested?"

"Perhaps."

"Hungry?"

"Starving."

"Leaving…"

"Now?"

"Hmm."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"1 sec."

"Meet you at the door."

* * *

The young couple received stares from many people as they walked down the street. The few working girls who had not yet found a bed mate watched with disdain, while the men attempting to get home before curfew looked at Alec enviously.

"I had a really nice time tonight, Alec." Simone said as they walked toward her front door. Alec had insisted on escorting her all the way up to her apartment.

Alec grinned. "So did I do good?"

"Is this your first date?"

"Did I disappoint you?"

"That remains to be seen. This is me." She said as they reached number 19. She turned to face him, her keys jingling as she played with them.

"Goodnight." Alec said simply, leaning in slowly until their lips touched gently. He could feel her smile on his lips. He broke the kiss, and turned to walk away.

"You're disappointing me." Came the voice from behind him.

He turned his head, "I'll call you," and continued to walk away with a smile.

Simone watched him go, waiting until he was out of hearing range – even for a transgenic – before commenting, "You did disappoint me." She entered her apartment and leaned against the closed door. "I thought you were a playa."

* * *

"It this line ever gonna move?" Max peered ahead, counting ten people in line before her. "I really need gas." She fumbled with her hands, dropping the gas can to the ground with a clang.

"Max! Will you quit fidgeting for _five_ seconds?" Alec asked exasperatedly, lazily opening one eye to peer at her.

"It's not normal to stand so still."

"I'm not normal." Though he still had his eyes closed, he could feel the heat of Max's glare through his eyelids, "Patience is a virtue, Maxie."

"Shut up and move forward." Max retorted, only to find that he had already moved forward; with her gas can in hand, no less. She stalked forward and attempted to snatch it off him but he twisted away from her and held the can above her head. "Hey! Gimme my gas can!" She moved to punch his chest, but her fist came in contact with his shoulder. "Wha…Alec!"

"Get down!" Alec's warning came just in time for Max to duck; she felt bullets whizzing through the air above her head and heard the distinctive sound of bullets impacting flesh.

She turned to look at Alec, and her eyes immediately focused on the patch of blood spreading over the shoulder of his green t-shirt. "You're bleeding."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. It's kinda what happens when you step in front of a bullet."

"So you enjoy being shot?"

"No, of course not," He picked up the fallen cans with his good hand and walked away.

Max rose from the ground more cautiously, checking to see that the car holding the shooters had in fact left before moving to catch up with Alec.

"I was protecting you. It's not a crime." Alec muttered as he walked, and Max had to strain to hear him.

Max spun him around and glared at him. "I don't need your protection, you son of a bitch!"

"Actually that would be son of a test tube if you wanted to be politically correct."

She shoved him away from her, and he grabbed his shoulder.

"Oww, injured!"

"Shut up, jerk. You are so insensitive! How about you think about my feelings the next time you feel like heroically jumping in front of a bullet for me? So what do you have to say for yourself?" She tapped her foot impatiently, but Alec stayed silent. "Huh? Huh? Huh!"

He shifted awkwardly, "You told me to shut up."

"Since when did you start obeying? And since when do I require protection from you of all people?"

"Call it self preservation, I don't think Logan would let me live if I didn't try to protect his pregnant girlfriend."

"I'm calling your bluff. The real reason this time?"

Silence.

"Alec, answer me." He was still silent. "Now!"

"Since I fell in love with you dammit!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

So didja like our cliffhanger? We're expecting heaps of reviews to give us ideas as to how Max should react – do you think she already knows? Practically everyone else does, but does Max? And sorry about making Syl pregnant, but we actually had that idea before we decided that we'd make Max pregnant too, and we weren't gonna cut it just coz there was another baby on the way to DA land... Again, sorry for the **LONG** wait, despite the hype holidays are not all stress-free, and are especially not easy on computers and internet connections. Again thanks to MissBehaving for the random title. And yes, we borrowed the one-word conversation from 'How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days'.

**Roll Call (by SA):**

**Alexandra Bruderlin:** Not much S/K in this chappie, but I 'specially put in the pregnancy test thing in just for you. Promise there will be more in the next one, but probably not so much happy banter…

**Babyangel86:** Yeah, Max is back, and everything's alright in M/L land again…but now Max's got Alec's love to deal with too…

**SuzyQ:** Thanks for the praise about our writing. As for the comment about Alec…too bad you don't like his parts, coz they ain't slowing. Alec is our fav character and we want to give him his own storyline…we're also trying not to be like the early DA fics which were entirely M/L and had absolutely nothing else – gets kinda boring. This is our attempt to make a somewhat convincing real DA ep and if you don't like it, tough luck.

**maggieann452, M/L Only, Black Rose:** Thanks for the praise! We're only writing for you readers, so keep the reviews coming, they inspire us!


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